Cosmic Storm
by robinyj
Summary: Only a few months after Galactus is defeated the Fantastic Four receive a message that Earth is in danger of being destroyed again, by an entity called the Gorgun, and they are the planet's only hope of survival. Johnny Angst
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Characters, not mine, don't own a thing, they're all Marvel's. This is me simply borrowing them.

Author's note: Hello all. So, this is my second Fantastic Four fic - it will be a multi-chapter action/adventure, Johnny angst story that I am very excited about. This story is set in the movie verse but I am also a comic book reader so I may be inserting a bit of stuff from the comics in, but nothing major that needs strenuous explanations. I hope you all enjoy and will tell me what you think. Now, on to …

* * *

Cosmic Storm

by Robinyj

If you ever visit New York city you probably won't have trouble finding amazing sites to visit - the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Madison Square Garden, and any number of talk shows that need studio audience members. Compared to all these attractions, the modern, yet simple looking Baxter building located near the heart of the city may seem unimpressive but the family and team that lives on the inside, is nothing if not, fantastic.

"Come on, Flame On already! Hey, who designed this thing? This is totally unrealistic!"

"You're tellin' me matchstick. Two hits to crush a car, it's insulting!"

"Look, that lamppost is still standing on full heat! It would be a puddle of copper by now. And what's with the limited flight abilities? I can fly any time, for however long I want to."

"Ah man, we can't even fight each other, I was hoping to knock you around a little bit, relieve some stress, even if it is a virtual you."

"Like you could catch me Rocky."

"Don't matter, we gotta keep going after these stupid mole things. What are these anyway?"

"What are you two doing?"

Inside the Baxter Building is some of the most advanced technology on the planet, almost all of it designed by Mr. Fantastic himself, Reed Richards. Among these inventions was a Simulation Room, with walls that could create perfect 3-D simulations of any atmosphere. The room was meant to be used for such things as atmospheric training for astronauts, or combat training. Today however, Reed found that another one of his inventions was being put to ill use as he opened the door to the simulation room to see Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm had somehow found a way to hook up Johnny's gaming console to the projection walls and were now playing as themselves in Johnny's new Fantastic Four game.

"Hey Reed," Johnny greeted, not at all ashamed. "You want to try? The development team hasn't quite gotten all our powers right, but it's still pretty fun."

"It's fun until you get so enthralled that you forget it's a game and accidentally burn the simulation room down," Reed replied.

Ben chuckled beside Johnny as the Human Torch rolled his eyes, "Geez, one time. One time I get a little excited and cause a little fire and nobody will let me live it down."

"Maybe cause that 'little fire' nearly took the roof off this place. You're lucky Suzie was around with a forcefield to smother it for you," Ben reminded him as they quit the game and exited the simulation room.

"Yeah, yeah we all love my sister. What I don't love are some of the aspects of this new game. I'm not letting my name go on something that says I need thirty seconds of 'power up' before I can even Flame On. I'm gonna go call these PR guys right now," Johnny explained as he headed for the door.

"And make sure they know I can crush a car with one hit, and one hand tied behind my back!" Ben called after him, mildly insulted by how low his strength was represented in the game. Then he saw the look Reed gave him and would have blushed if he could. "Not that I care, you know, but these things should be accurate."

"Sure thing Pebbles," Johnny promised as he jogged for the nearest phone.

Reed rolled his eyes as he sat down at his computer, "You're as bad as him."

"That hurts Reed, it really does," Ben replied, half joking. "So, you've been spending an awful lot of time in here, what have you been working on?"

"Odds and ends. Doing calculations for all the rebuilding that has to be done after the Surfer's visit for several different cities, working out a shielding system for the Fantasticar, things like that," Reed said as he stretched his arm across the room to pick up his PAD on a faraway table.

"Shields huh? You ever think of putting in seatbelts or something? I was getting thrown around in that thing like a piece of luggage," Ben complained, which made Reed chuckle.

"I'll see what I can do."

Just then Sue walked in and smiled to see her husband and team member.

"Hey guys, how's the game the PR people sent Johnny?"

"You knew about that did you? You all know the Simulation Room is not a toy, right?" Reed asked.

"Come on Reed, everything you leave out is a toy. If you didn't want us using it you would have put a password on it or something," Ben pointed out.

"There is a password."

"Well, you should have picked something a little less obvious than 'Fantastic', I mean, really Reed, they say you're the smartest guy on the planet," Ben continued, smirking for having broken Reed's code.

"I was very tired, and it seemed too obvious for anyone to try," Reed defended himself, but chagrined he turned back to his computer screen.

"Anyway Suzie, the graphics are great, but Flame Boy and I found a few problems. We never played as you or Stretch, you want to give it a go?" Ben offered, more than willing to play again.

"Yeah," Sue smiled. She wasn't a media fanatic like Johnny, who seemed like he would now die without his adoring fans, but she did want to see and play the video game version of herself. "I'm curious to see how I match up to my virtual self."

"If you see anything needs changing, Johnny just went to phone the PR guys now so we better make it quick," Ben told her.

Beep, beep, beep, ...

Before Ben could start the game up again their attention was drawn to a console that had started buzzing and lighting up across the room. Ben and Sue didn't know what it meant, but upon seeing how quickly Reed rushed to look at the monitor they could guess that it wasn't good.

"Reed, what is that?" Sue asked as she and Ben peered over his shoulder.

"It's an alert system I set up after the incident with Galactus. It detects cosmic radiation anywhere near the planet," Reed explained as his stretched out fingers typed faster than the eye could see. "I'm trying to pinpoint the source."

Ben fought to follow along, "Wait, cosmic radiation, you mean like …"

Reed had found the cause of the radiation and connected the monitor to a satellite directed at that section of space.

"The Silver Surfer."

There was no doubt that the blurry, silver projectile they were watching hurtle through space was none other than Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer that had visited them several months before.

"What do you know, the mook's alive," Ben exclaimed, surprised.

"Hey, that 'mook' saved the entire planet," Sue reminded him.

"He also put the planet in danger in the first place," Ben countered.

Reed ignored the squabble above him as he continued to punch keys, "Well he's not just passing by, he's heading straight for Earth's atmosphere."

"We're sure Galactus was destroyed right? I mean, he's not gonna be coming back for seconds or anything?" Ben asked, voicing the same fear that they all had caused by the fact that they simply did not know enough about Norrin or Galactus.

"I'm not sure, but we're going to have to find out. Immediately," Reed suggested.

"Johnny!!! Get in here!" Sue yelled, knowing they were going to need him. She looked back at the screen and shook her head. She really thought she had connected with Norrin, "If he's been alive this whole time I wonder why he didn't contact us."

"No offence Suzie, but we got bigger questions to answer than that, like why is he back?" Ben pointed out.

Sue nodded in agreement and they all turned when they heard Johnny nearing the doorway, obviously talking on his cell phone.

"No, I'm telling you for the last time I don't need to 'power up' or catch my breath, or recharge, I just Flame On, anytime, any place … just a second guys … and I also think I should be a little taller …"

"Johnny, get over here!" Sue ordered again, but Johnny put up his hand in a 'one minute' gesture.

"I don't know … how hot is the sun? Pretty much that ho … hey, they need to know these things Sue!" Johnny yelled as the cell phone was removed from his hands by a force field and snapped shut.

"You can call him back. Do you have your suit on?" Sue asked.

Seeing the serious expressions on everyone's face, Johnny forgot all about the video game and jogged over to the group.

"Yeah, we got trouble?" He answered his own question when he saw who was on the screen. "Well, hi ho Silver! I thought he was dead."

"So did we. You think you can catch him again?" Reed asked.

"I don't think I want to," Johnny snapped back. "What if that's not him? Not the Norrin we know and love?"

"What do you mean?" Sue questioned as she looked back at the screen.

"The dude said there was a whole planet of people like him, and this past month we've all been pretty sure he died. This could just be a lookalike with a worse attitude," Johnny theorized.

"What's wrong matchstick, ya scared of Mr. Shiny Pants?" Ben teased, causing Johnny's eyes to flare up with flames.

"I don't exactly feel like being hauled out of the atmosphere again and then getting chucked back to Earth right now, so excuse me if I also have the power of self preservation," Johnny responded forcefully.

"Johnny, you're right, it might not be Norrin, it could be dangerous. We'll all go, the Fantasticar is up and running, right Reed?" Sue asked, realizing it was wrong to send her brother off to catch the Surfer again when they could all go.

"It is, but I don't think we'll need it," Reed mumbled, his attention not having left the monitor since it started beeping.

"Why?"

"Well Johnny, the Surfer has just entered Earth's atmosphere, and as long as his trajectory doesn't change, it looks like he's heading straight to the Baxter Building," Reed replied as a chart popped up showing his quick calculations and map with a red line indicating the Surfer's path.

"He's comin' here?" Ben asked.

"At top speed."

They all looked at each other for a moment, then nodded, and Johnny was the first to run for the door, "Roof, now!"

Sue and Ben weren't far behind and Reed was only a few seconds behind them, striking a few more keys before racing to join them on the roof. After all, they had a visitor coming, and they couldn't leave him waiting.

* * *

When they got to the roof all eyes went to the sky desperately seeking the Herald of Galactus.

"What direction's he coming from?" Johnny asked.

Reed looked at his PAD quickly before replying, "Should be almost exactly north."

"There!" Sue pointed between two distant skyscrapers.

The rest of the team saw him as well and Johnny almost flamed on to intercept the Surfer, but he was moving so fast that it would be pointless.

"Uh, he's gonna slow down right?" Ben asked when it became obvious that the Surfer was approaching with above average speed.

"I hope so," Reed replied.

They got their answer when the silver blur slowed a few buildings away to reveal a clearer picture of the board's rider.

"It looks like Norrin," Sue commented.

"Let's see what he wants," Johnny suggested as they all moved together towards the edge of the roof to meet up with him.

The Surfer had returned in all his glory, as bright and noble as ever, his rigid posture emitting a deep sense of strength, as his ease on his board gave off a great feeling of power.

Sue had had the most interaction with Norrin and formed the closest bond, so stepped forward to greet him as he lowered onto the roof with him.

"Norrin?" She asked, to be certain.

"Greetings, Susan Storm," the rider replied with the same deep, serene voice they remembered.

"Hello. It's good to see you, alive. When you never came back we thought the worst," Susan told him.

"I did not intend that. I did not believe I would be welcome, having brought to your home the Destroyer," Norrin replied.

"That does put a damper on the relationship, I gotta say," Ben mumbled.

Sue shushed him and turned back to Norrin. "What are you doing here now? Why did you come back?"

The seemingly emotionless being hesitated and lowered his head in what could be construed as sadness before beginning, "I have come to warn you. All life on your planet is in danger of being destroyed, not by Galactus but by a different entity, known as the Gorgun, an entity I cannot destroy and has already ravaged many thousands of solar systems."

A moment of stunned silence.

Johnny sighed, "You never just stop by to say 'hi', do you?"

TBC

I do read the FF comics, but The Gorgun is something I made up and will explain more in the next chapter, trust me, it's different than anything you've read. This is just the prologue, so actual chapters will be about twice as long. Thanks for reading, tell me what you think, all reviews make the next chapter come faster.


	2. The Eighth Plague

Thanks for the great response guys!!! I love it!!! Just a little tidbit that you might need to know for this chapter, although the movie had the Surfer's powers coming from his board, in comic lore this isn't quite true. His powers are his own and the board just helps him use them and focus them and his power actually comes from the Power Cosmic, which is kind of like having perfect insight into the universe. You can see how everything works and is stitched together and from this understanding you can manipulate space around you. Okay, that info isn't exactly pertinent yet, but it will be eventually.

Special thanks to moogsthewriter, silverangel83, Frozen Waterz, MarvelousMariaah, Iaveina, and Kuriei137 for their fantastic reviews. Each word made this next chapter come out just a little bit faster. Anyway, chapter two of:

* * *

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

Even after Johnny's sarcastic comment, silence and dread hung around the members of the Fantastic Four as it once more seemed to fall on their shoulders to save the world.

"So, what is this Gorgun?" Reed finally asked, knowing they would need a lot more information.

"It is a wave of destruction that flows through the universe as wind passes over your own planet. It has no sentience, no desires - it merely exists, and has always existed, travelling from star to star, drawn by the flame and heat and devouring that energy for sustenance," the Surfer explained.

"So, it's not actually attacking Earth?" Sue clarified.

"No, it comes for this system's star, which you call the Sun," Norrin replied.

"But without the sun, all life on the planet dies, so it's really one in the same," Reed mumbled dejectedly.

"It eats stars? It's a 'star-eater'?" Johnny asked.

Norrin nodded, "Yes, it feeds on their energy until they are extinguished."

"Great, we knock Galactus out of the park and then in moves a new neighbor who's just as bad," Ben complained. "Come on, what are the chances? Two universe destroying monsters to fight in the same year?"

"It is not by 'chance' as you say Benjamin Grimm, for the Gorgun's appearance after Galactus is no coincidence. Millennia ago whatever fates form and control this universe set the Gorgun on its path through the galaxy and the path that was laid out for it was the same as the one carved by Galactus. For every planet and life that the Destroyer devoured, the Gorgun came soon after and extinguished the star that gave the system life, ensuring that the area would remain void and cold for all eternity," the Surfer continued.

"So this Gorgun never got a fancy name like "The Destroyer" since all the stars that it eats are in universes that are already dead," Johnny surmised.

"Except ours," Sue added. "We destroyed Galactus but this Gorgun is still following its path and coming for the sun. When will it be here?"

"Within four of your Earth rotations," Norrin replied.

"Four days?" Sue gasped. The entire team took on a renewed look of fear and panic; four days was not a long time to save the planet, even Galactus had given them eight.

Seeing their fear, Norrin nodded in sadness, "I apologize for not arriving sooner. What I did, to my master, weakened me greatly and sent me deep into space where I drifted until I was strong enough to return here."

Sue looked at him with sympathetic, grateful eyes, "We know you did all you could, thank you Norrin. You've already saved our planet once, we owe you more than we can ever repay."

"But, since we 're on the topic of saving the planet and all - is there anything _you_ can do? I mean, you took down Galactus, the planet chomper, how much tougher can this Gorgun be?" Johnny asked hopefully, voicing what they were all thinking.

"I cannot fight the Gorgun," was Norrin's simple reply.

Ben, who still had his doubts about the Surfer, grit out angrily, "Can't or won't?"

"Ben!" Sue admonished him but the Surfer looked Ben right in the eye, unflinching.

"I cannot fight the Gorgun," he repeated. "Galactus was a being too complex to be understood with your words, but I will say that he was not of this universe."

"And you … are?" Johnny pushed after a short silence, as he was not following at all.

Norrin only realized with the question that he had to explain more and seemed to search for words, "Galactus was not of this universe, therefore he could be expelled from it without consequence. The Gorgun was created as a natural part of the universe, as grass and water are a natural element of your own planet. My strength is drawn from the Power Cosmic, a power that originates from the very fabric of the universe, it cannot be used to destroy another piece of that same fabric."

"Wow, is it crazy that I actually followed that?" Johnny said, stunned and blinking at his own comprehension.

"So how do we fight it?" Reed asked, though he was terrified of the Surfer's answer.

"I do not know."

That's what he was afraid of.

"You don't know? You come all this way and drop this bomb on us that the sun's getting wiped out and that's all you got - I don't know!" Ben exclaimed, clearly frustrated with Norrin and the situation as a whole and needing to vent that frustration.

"Ben, I'm sure he's doing his best …"

"It is true, I offer little, I am sorry. I arrived as swiftly as I could, at the very least perhaps this warning will allow your world time to prepare for its end. But I had hope that you would have the resources to find a solution of your own, and with this I will help any way I can," Norrin said solemnly. Though, his voice kind of always sounded that way, Johnny mused to himself.

Then Johnny took a step back as the Surfer suddenly looked at him, not just in the eyes, but into his soul in some way. For a brief moment the Human Torch felt completely exposed and vulnerable as if his entire person was laid bare to these eyes, with all his actions, thoughts and feelings being put on display to be explored and studied. In defense against such an invading feeling of nakedness, Johnny's body Flamed On, since it was all he could do to try to repel an attack of such incredible insight.

"Hey, matchstick, watch it!" Ben yelled as Johnny ignited beside.

"Wha … oh shit!" Panicked and flustered by the Surfer's gaze it took Johnny a second of shaking his arms and legs before he could turn off the flames completely.

"Oh god, you didn't touch him again did you?" Sue asked worriedly. She hadn't seen Johnny make contact with the Surfer, but maybe even proximity would cause his powers to become unstable again.

"No, I didn't do anything. It's okay, it's … I got it. It was me, I was … drifting off. My own fault, it's all under control," Johnny promised, looking his sister in the eye to make sure she knew he was sincere.

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Totally sure."

When she finally nodded and turned away, accepting this, he looked back to see the Surfer was now talking with Reed more intimately about this Gorgun, but inside Johnny could still feel his gaze on his soul.

"Weird," he mumbled to himself but knew he couldn't bring it up right now, because the world was far more important.

"I know you said you don't know a way to fight it, but can you give us anything? A weakness, a strategy …" Reed implored their lustrous guest.

"I could describe to you what the Gorgun is past what you refer to as the atomic level, but I know no way to fight it. It can not be reasoned with, as a storm cannot be dissuaded from passing over a city, and my own powers are useless against it, but I will offer my assistance in any course of action you may be able to devise," the Surfer promised.

Reed sighed, his face pinched with tension, already feeling the weight of this task on his shoulders. Four days to save the world, from a force even stronger than the one they had already defeated - correction, that Norrin had defeated for them. And the Surfer couldn't attack or harm this entity - they were on their own.

At least there was no pressure.

"Will you come inside?" Sue suggested, leading the way to the stairwell. "We can go to Reed's lab. We'll come up with something."

Sue tried to sound upbeat but they could all feel the cloud of dread that the Surfer had brought with him, and they had only four days to stop the rain. Norrin nodded at Sue's suggestion and solemnly followed her and Reed downstairs into the building.

Johnny and Ben hung back on the roof for a few minutes, knowing they were pretty much deadweight when it came to the science aspect of being a superhero. Once Reed had a plan they would do everything they had to do to make it work, but until then, all they could do was wait.

"That guy gives me the creeps," Ben admitted once they were alone.

"Tell me about," Johnny mumbled, still rattled by the way the Surfer had seemed to stare straight into his soul. He felt as if the eyes might still be there, inside him, watching him.

"Sure the guy ended up saving our butts last time, but it took some persuading. And just think of all the other planets he wiped out before us, all those people he lined up like a lunch buffet for that Destroyer thing, and he wants us to trust him," Ben rambled.

"It's called atonement, Ben. Seems like he's trying to make up for it, I say we let him," Johnny replied softly, deep in thought.

Ben stared at his teammate like he had just grown an extra head and four arms to match, "Who the hell are you and where the hell's the Matchstick?"

"What?"

"Did you really just give me a mushy-feely answer about redemption for this guy? I mean, you're the only one of us he actually tried to kill - came pretty damn close too," Ben reminded him.

Forcing away the weird feelings he kept getting, Johnny put on a fake smile, "And don't pretend you wouldn't have missed me if he had."

Johnny almost immediately returned to his deeper thoughts and wandered over to the railing of the roof to look out over the city.

"Guy wants to help us save the world again, I'm more than happy to let him. Besides, I'm pretty sure if he wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have the pleasure of being graced with my presence right now," Johnny replied. He could feel the footsteps as Ben walked over to join him to gaze out at the city, "Hey Ben, I'm not exactly all that great with all this science mumbo-jumbo …."

"Who? You?" Ben prodded, but even his laugh was short lived.

"Ha ha. What I meant is … well, if the sun dies, we don't all just die with it, what happens exactly?" Johnny asked, surprising Ben for the second time in their conversation with his serious attitude. Ben returned the solemnity with his response.

"Well, no sun means no heat, and no light and no energy, at all. It'd be gradual, a couple of weeks, but eventually all the plants die, it don't matter where you are on the planet anymore cause the temperature everywhere is below freezing, Arctic would be the same as the equator. Basically you get an ice age. Then all the plants are dead and the oceans finally freeze, killing all that plankton that makes so much oxygen for us, so humanity survives for a couple of years, tops, but the temperature will just keep dropping along with the O2. So unless you got an oxygen-replenishing fall-out shelter deep underground with a lifelong supply of ding-dongs, humanity's wiped out and the world freezes to death and the Earth becomes an ice planet."

A pause.

"I'm sorry I asked."

"I'm sorry ya had to, it won't be a pretty way to go. It'll be slow, agonizing, humanity fighting for each breath, each hour. Personally I'd rather be eaten by a giant cloud - quick and painless, you know."

"I don't feel cold anymore," Johnny said after another moment's pause.

"Really?" Ben asked, surprised. Johnny had never opened up to him before, but he supposed this was as good a time as any.

"Not since before the space station. I don't feel heat anymore either actually, not really. I flame on and burn as hot as the sun, but I don't feel the heat, I just feel release and energy. But my body temp is always way, way higher than a normal person's; I don't think I could freeze if I wanted to. It's just … what you said - if the world freezes to death I could very well be the last man alive on the planet."

Ben shrugged, "Yeah, I guess you could. To tell you the truth, I can feel cold, I know when it's nice out, I can feel when it's snowing, but it don't effect me either."

"So if this Gorgun does come, I could be stuck with you on an ice rock for the rest of eternity?" Johnny asked.

Ben smirked, "Yeah, how would you feel about that?"

Ten different smart alec remarks came into Johnny's mind as a response to the question, each one fighting to be the jackass reply that Johnny was known for using with Ben, but he didn't say any of them. Something about the Surfer's presence, his ominous warning and the way he looked at Johnny with a kind of … importance. It drained the immaturity out of Johnny and replaced it with … he wasn't sure yet. But he was sure of his answer.

"It'd be an honor."

Ben had been waiting for the sarcastic, biting reply from Johnny that he knew was coming, and was shocked again by the sincere response he got. There was no jest, no humor, no sarcasm. Ben waited for the other ball to drop, for Johnny to snicker or add something, but the Human Torch just looked Ben straight in the eye, and then turned back to the beautiful New York landscape. Finally Ben nodded, patted his teammate on the back and looked out over the same horizon.

"Same here, Kid. Same here."

* * *

After almost half an hour on the roof, Johnny and Ben came back down and took a moment to peak their heads into Reed's lab. It was weird seeing the majestic figure of the Surfer just standing there, answering Reed's questions, but 'weird' was the team's specialty. They asked if there was anything they could do, but at this stage they could offer no assistance. It was up to Reed and Norrin Radd to come up with a plan, with Sue there to keep Reed focussed on the right things and calm enough to think clearly. Trying hard not to feel useless, Johnny plopped down on the couch to watch TV. He settled on one of the first channels he came across and hoped to zone out enough to not think about anything, but in truth he was hardly watching the program at all and was instead deep in thought about the Surfer, the Gorgun, Galactus and all things apocalyptic.

"Hey little brother."

He looked up at the quiet voice to see Sue gently lowering herself onto the couch to join him. He sat up eagerly, desperate for news.

"How's it going? Where are we at?"

"Not much yet," she replied with a sad smile. "Reed thinks he's gotten all the useful information he can out of the Surfer for now. He's sent some satellites into deeper orbit in space to try to get readings on this Gorgun before it arrives in our solar system but if he has any plans thus far, he hasn't shared them with me."

"Give him time, inspiration will strike," Johnny assured her. "What about our shiny friend?"

"Norrin just left, he said he would track the Gorgun for us, get exact locations, tell us about any phenomena occurring nearby we can use. He thinks the best way to stop it would be to change its path, but he doesn't know how and once it's in our system there's no way for him to deflect it from the sun because it'll just be drawn to its heat."

"Like moths to the flame," Johnny mumbled.

Sue actually chuckled a little, "Yeah, I guess. A giant moth that could wipe out life on this planet."

"That would be a big moth all right," Johnny said in an exaggerated tone, trying to get another smile from his sister, but nothing came. After a pause where they both faked watching the television, Johnny spoke up, "Hey sis, are you getting weird vibes off surf boy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, like he's … judging us, or you?" Johnny wasn't really sure what he was asking and stumbled over his words.

"No. I feel he cares about what happens to us, he wants to help and is worried, but not … judging. Why?"

"It's nothing, it's not important. Especially looking at the big picture, it's really not important. Wow, thinking about the big BIG picture it's pretty much like a little grain of sand on a big beach of importance," Johnny rambled as he got perspective. "Which isn't big at all."

"Okay, I get it," Sue stopped him. "Where's Ben?"

"Went to Alicia's, surprise, surprise. His phone's on if we need him."

"That's good, he should be with her," Sue said solemnly, and then looked at her brother who was feigning to watch television. It seemed he was the only one of them that wouldn't have someone to 'be with' if the end came. She reached out and touched his cheek to make him look at her, "You can always talk to me Johnny, I'm here for you."

"I know sis, thanks," Johnny said, forcing down his macho side that said to shrug off her affection.

"I'm gonna go start supper. We all still have to eat after all."

"Yeah," Johnny agreed, but he didn't feel particularly hungry. Walking out on the balcony he started to take off his street clothes until he was down to just his uniform. New York was vast, almost as big as some countries, but he hadn't seen enough beyond that. He'd saved a lot of people in New York, done a lot of Press Conferences there too, but aside from getting dropped into the Middle East by Norrin, and fighting Doom in Shanghai Johnny hadn't seen very much of the rest of the world.

"Flame on!"

But that was about to change.

At top speed Johnny could fly at about Mach 3. Without stops he could make it around the world in 5 hours, so he wouldn't stop, but he would slow down, he would take it in, he would see the world, because it was very probable that in four days, there wouldn't be much to see.

* * *

Six hours after Johnny took off, Norrin Radd appeared again to tell them that the Gorgun was exactly 3 days, 16 hours and 17 minutes away from reaching the Sun.

Four hours after that Reed was able to detect and take readings of the Gorgun from the satellites he had sent into deep space.

The information gathered gave Reed no inspiration or options on how to stop the Gorgun.

However, now with verifiable proof of its approach Sue went to the Chiefs of Security with the information to be passed along to the President. More than willing to take the word of the superheroes that had saved the planet, the President ordered that precautions be taken immediately in the event the Sun was extinguished. These precautions were done in secret for the time as to not cause mass hysteria in the public.

Five hours later Reed was conference calling with every great mind on the planet, sharing all the information he had, but no ideas were forthcoming. The first option on everyone's mind was missiles. Lots and lots of missiles, nuclear, non-nuclear, everything the planet had to offer, but it would do nothing. The Gorgun was not a mass, not a being or meteor coming towards them. Much like Galactus it was a mist, floating through space, almost incorporeal - there was not simply one Gorgun to destroy, it was in fact a mass of trillions upon trillions of individual organisms. One expert compared it to a galactic swarm of locusts that they had no pesticide for.

Locusts, mused Reed, the eighth plague, warned by God that they would blot out the sun and destroy the crops. He wondered what the first seven plagues had been - Doom, the Surfer, Galactus - that was only three, surely it shouldn't be time for locusts already.

For the next two days Reed never left his lab, never slept, only ate what Sue forced him.

For the next two days Sue never left the Baxter Building, never slept, only ate what Reed didn't touch and looked out the window for her brother.

For the next two days Ben stayed with Alicia, held her, watched her, loved her. Never slept, never ate, promised to protect her and looked out the window for the end to come.

For the next two days the Silver Surfer came back and forth, offering help, leaving to intercept the Gorgun once more, and making no progress.

Ten hours before the Gorgun arrived Reed graphed and sketched and calculated possibility after possibility of ways to destroy it, and save their sun, and made no progress. He would not accept defeat, but in the back of his mind his subconscious was inventing massive scale generators to keep people warm, sheltered indoor gardens to grow food, programs to bring rural citizens into the city for protection from the cold. He would not accept defeat, but his subconscious knew there was no answer, and if one was found, there was no time.

Six hours before this Johnny Storm had returned home.

He had seen the world.

TBC

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think about the pacing and structure, I like to try new things every few sections to try to keep things interesting but I know I've flopped a couple times in the past. I hope I've kept your attention and I'll try to get another chapter out before university starts again, but no guarantees. Later, Robinyj


	3. Must be the end of the world

Okay, so this took a really long time to write, but I hope you can appreciate that this is the longest chapter of anything I've EVER written!!! I was tempted to wait a week and post it as two chapters, but I'm not that patient, or mean. So after much waiting, and some amazing reviewers, all of whom I have thanked at the end of this chapter, here is the angst-filled continuation of:

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

* * *

Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 16 hours before the Gorgun reaches the sun

Sue paced the living room. She paced and paced for hours, but never went further than four feet in any given direction, because only within the four feet she was pacing could she clearly see out the massive picture window and into the sky. As she paced she hardly ever tore her eyes away from that window as she was continually scanning the sky for a fiery blur that after two and a half days, still hadn't appeared.

"Johnny, where are you?" She whispered aloud, stopping her pacing to just stare for awhile into the blue horizon.

She didn't know why he had left, but she could guess, and she wasn't exactly worried for his safety, because she at least knew where he had been to some extent. For the first day and a half there had been reports coming in pretty steadily about sightings of the Human Torch all around the world. The French news made it one of their top stories and showed footage of Johnny circling the Eiffel Tower, another station had covered how Johnny had flown along the entire length of the great wall of China, and the final report she had seen had shown him hovering over the great Pyramids in Egypt. He wasn't causing any kind of destruction or chaos, he seemed to just be flying around, and taking in all the world had to offer. Sue couldn't really blame him, Johnny had the unique ability to be able to fly faster than a fighter plane when he chose to and if she had the chance to see the entire world before it was destroyed, she supposed she might do the exact same thing.

A day ago the flow of Johnny sightings had stopped as the news began covering one thing, and one thing only, the impending destruction of the sun and Earth's way of life. The government had decided that with a day and half left until possible annihilation, it was time to tell the world of its fate to give people time to make the proper arrangements. At this point, Sue wasn't really worried about her brother, but she wanted to know where he was and for him to be home. There wasn't much time left and they should all be together for the last few hours before fallout.

After the news had been released some cities became chaotic, scrambling for supplies or shelter, or looting had broken out since destruction seemed imminent. Other places in the world were very calm, very still - simply waiting. Several countries were holding massive prayer ceremonies and every airport in the world was jammed with people trying to return home to see their loved ones for their final hours. But worst of all, every eye and ear in the country was firmly fixed on the Baxter building, knowing that if anyone could save them, it would be the Fantastic Four, and the strange silver being that had been spotted visiting them for days now.

Sue had denied all requests to talk to the press, she couldn't bear to lie to them and tell them they had answers. She was in constant contact with government officials about any progress that Reed made, but there was really nothing to report, and she left that up to the politicians to relate to the public somehow.

Sitting down on the couch, she couldn't believe this might be the end. Sixteen hours - it might as well have been thirty seconds - it just wasn't enough time. At this point, even if Reed cracked the code of the Gorgun, came up with some miracle way of destroying it or rerouting it, the only kind of delivery system they would have for such a weapon or tool would be the Surfer. He was the only one that could make it into deep space in a matter of minutes, but even if that miracle happened, first it would have to be built, there would be no time for testing, and who knew how much the Surfer could actually help them? He wasn't able to use his powers to destroy the Gorgun, would it be crossing the line to help them to beat it? She just didn't know. She saw the room brighten for an instant and did know one thing - Johnny Storm had returned home.

* * *

Incredible.

That had been the first word he had thought of to describe it, but it had been many things. It had been exhilarating, breath-taking, awesome, stupendous, mind-blowing, amazing, and he would even go so far as to say, Fantastic!

It had also been exhausting.

Johnny had never flown for nearly so long in his entire life. Two and a half days straight, he had flown everywhere, the States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and taken in as much as he could. The adrenaline of each new sight had spurred him to keep going, along with the knowledge that it might be the last chance he ever had to see them. But now he was home, the Baxter building was looming ahead and with familiar sights came the dropping of his energy levels. His eyelids drooped as his flames finally sputtered and he made the worst landing he could remember since he had learned how to fully control his powers. He didn't even have the strength to voice the pain he felt as he rolled across the roof, flames extinguishing as he came to a stop on his back and decided that laying there for awhile and getting some sleep was a really good plan.

"Johnny! Johnny!" Sue had made her way to the roof and was rushing to his side.

Stupid older sisters, never let you sleep when you want to, Johnny complained in his head.

"Johnny, can you hear me?" Sue asked, holding his head in her hands and taking in his unfocussed eyes with the massive rings underneath.

"Hey Sue," he croaked out, his throat incredibly dry.

"You scared me to death! What the hell were you thinking taking off like that?" She demanded.

Johnny smiled, more to himself than his sister, "I saw everything … I was everywhere … China, Egypt, Paris - had a croissant, they're good - saw Peru even, I just stumbled onto it … saw it all."

Sue's anger and worry died away almost instantly, replaced with understanding and love. She placed a hand on her little brother's cheek, "Oh Johnny … I'm glad."

Johnny nodded, still half in a daze, "Me too. There's some really nice stuff out there."

At this, Sue laughed, "I'm sure there is. Come on, let's get you into bed."

Johnny felt his body lift up with greater ease and strength than Sue could possibly have and knew she was hefting him up with a forcefield.

"Those are so nifty," he slurred from exhaustion.

"Yeah, I like 'em," Sue agreed as she hauled him downstairs. She wanted to be mad at him for taking off like that for so long, but with so little time left, she was just happy her little brother had come home.

* * *

Johnny was asleep in Sue's forcefield before he ever reached his bed, with dreams of the Earth's wonders swirling through his head. Once Sue tucked him in she made her way down to the lab and sighed at the sight of her husband.

Reed was a mess. He hadn't shaved, he hadn't slept, had barely eaten and she was pretty sure was now injecting himself with pure caffeine. The worst part was, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't make him rest, there just wasn't time and he wouldn't listen. He was the epitome of stress and exhaustion, but his mind was Earth's only hope. The world was on his shoulders and it was crushing him.

"Hey," she said softly. He spun around quickly, knowing he couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen for long. "Johnny just came back, I thought you'd want to know."

"Johnny?" Reed asked, as if the name held no meaning. "Right, Johnny … left. Great … that's great."

Sue came into the lab and stood next to her husband, "Reed, breathe. Remember, we went over this with the Surfer the first time. When you stress and push it doesn't make it easier, just relax and let the answer come."

"What answer Sue? There is no answer! There's no magic machine or nifty gadget or team work strategy to take care of this one. There's nothing! I can't find it. There's just … nothing. I failed." Reed's tirade died almost as soon as it began and when he deflated with defeat Sue was right there to wrap her arms around him.

"You're a hero Reed, you're my hero. If there's an answer you'll find it, but if there's no answer then you can't just make one appear," the last thing she wanted to do was discourage him, but there was so little time left, she knew deep in her soul, that he wasn't going to find anything. "Sometimes there is no answer, it's like Pi, you can go on forever but you won't find the end."

Now speaking in mathematical terms, that was something Reed could follow. He nodded and somehow didn't feel discouraged, but a little lighter - the world couldn't blame him if he couldn't find an answer that didn't exist in the first place.

"Thanks Sue. I … I've gotta keep trying though."

She kissed his forehead, "I know. Good luck."

* * *

Johnny slept for almost ten hours. His body was still exhausted, but Sue had set his alarm clock so he wouldn't sleep until the end, and he felt rejuvenated enough to get up and get some kind of update.

While he slept the Gorgun had arrived. Anyone in the world with a telescope that was worth anything could spot it passing Saturn, slowly making its way across the solar system, drawn by the star that gave them life. What looked like a giant mass was really trillions upon trillions of smaller particles, travelling together through the path cut into the universe by Galactus, straight into the Sun that would feed the organisms and re-energize them for the next part of their journey.

Most people were surprised that it sparkled. As the life forms that made up the Gorgun burnt away the energy supplies they had stored, tiny flashes were caused by the combustion, creating a trillion tiny lights inside the mass.

It was beautiful.

It was death.

But Johnny Storm couldn't see it. The Gorgun would reach the sun in six hours, but New York and the Baxter Building were still in daylight making telescopes useless, though he could easily have viewed it on one of Reed's monitors if he wanted. Instead, he made his way back up to the roof. He had no intention of leaving this time, but there was one more thing he needed to see.

The Sun.

It was massive. Looking up at it, it was easy to forget how big it really was. Johnny could create flames, burn as hot as the sun, and that had somehow made his eyes immune to its brightness. He could stare into the center without flinching, which he did now, and tried to will their life-giver not to die.

The air was very still that day making it easy for Johnny to hear the light whirring sound of the Silver Surfer's board as he approached. He kept looking up and was slightly surprised when he heard footsteps coming up beside him, as Norrin hardly ever stepped off his board, especially after what happened with Doom.

Johnny didn't turn around, but he could feel that stare again, glimpsing into his soul …judging him, weighing him.

"Stop it," his tone was final as he turned to find the Surfer staring at him intently. Johnny returned the eye contact with an intensity of his own, "Stop looking at me, or through me, or in me, or whatever the hell it is you're doing. There's nothing to see okay, so just stop it!"

Norrin didn't turn away but Johnny could feel that he was no longer being examined inside.

"On the contrary Johnny Storm, there is much to see within you."

There it was again, that tone, that look of finality … importance. Johnny held the Surfer's gaze for a long moment and tried to keep from shaking as he finally said aloud what he had somehow known ever since Norrin had looked into his soul three days earlier. A truth he couldn't hide from, no matter how many times he flew around the world.

"I can stop this."

It wasn't a question, but the Surfer nodded. "How? Tell me, how? I've been through it a million times, there's nothing I can do! I can burn as hot as the sun, for what, thirty seconds, and that's if there was oxygen in space and if I could even get out there. I just … I can't! It doesn't work like that! There's nothing I can do!"

"I can give you the power you need to do this, but it is up to you to find the strength. I believe you have that strength, I have seen it in you," the Surfer said.

"You can do that? Make me stronger?" Another nod. "And you've known this the whole time! Jesus, why now? Why wait until the last minute like this? The world's in a panic, Reed's been killing himself for days and this thing's been edging closer. If you knew I could do this all along, why didn't you say something?"

The Surfer was unfazed as he replied softly, "I hoped Reed Richards would be able to find another way."

Johnny's brow wrinkled as his breath hitched and he asked with dread, "Why? What's so bad about this way?"

"You are important to this world Johnny Storm and many of its people. Important to … Susan. I did not wish for either to suffer."

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Man, how many guys is that now that have fallen for my sis?"

"If you do this, you must know, it will require great sacrifice," Norrin warned him.

"My sacrifice, yeah, I figured," Johnny said solemnly. "But it would save the planet, my family?"

"Yes."

"Then there's nothing to think about," Johnny said firmly. "This sucker's gotta go down."

"Then you are ready?"

"No," Johnny backpedaled, he couldn't just do this without telling them, but he also couldn't tell them, they'd try to stop him and he knew it. "I will be ready, just … just I have to go talk to my family, one more time."

The Surfer nodded, "Very well, but there is not much time."

"Don't I know it. I won't be long."

With a heavy heart Johnny went back downstairs. It was time to say good-bye.

* * *

"Wow, you look like shit."

It was a weird way to start saying his good-byes, but it got Reed's attention. Reed, who hadn't showered, slept, shaved or left his lab in three and a half days, and also didn't smile at Johnny's meager attempts at humor.

"Johnny, I don't have the time," was all Reed would say after seeing the mischievous grin on the Human Torch's face.

Johnny stared up at the huge monitor next to him that was counting down, "Yeah, it looks like the world's only got 5 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds left. 26, 25, 24, 23, 22 …."

"Johnny!" Reed snapped as he was understandably short tempered at the moment. "I'm more than aware of the time that's left."

"Could have fooled me. 5 hours, 52 minutes 17 seconds, 16, 15, 14 …."

"Johnny," Reed warned for a second time.

Johnny put away the smirk as he sat down in a lab chair and rolled it up next to Reed, "It just seems to me that if you REALLY knew how much time was left, you'd want to spend it with your family. With Sue."

At this, Reed stopped working, for just a split second, "There's an answer Johnny, I can save her. I can save us all … I just have to find it."

"What if you can't? There's five hours, fifty-one minutes and thirty three seconds Reed. It's been three and a half days and you're no closer than when you started. If you don't end up finding that answer you're looking for, you'll lose her anyway, just without the luxury of saying good-bye."

Silence as Reed absorbed Johnny's surprisingly wise advice.

"You're a good guy Reed. You were a little naïve sometimes when it came to Sue, hell, you still are, but I know you never meant to hurt her, ever, you're just … easily distracted. I hope you can appreciate how comforting it is to know that someone I trust is looking after the only family I have. I'm tempted to make you promise, but I know you'll always protect Sue, so there's no need. You'll do it whether I make you promise to me you will or not. So, thank you for that. Just take care of yourself too, and don't forget what Norrin told you, he's a smart guy. You cherish her, or I'll come back and kick your pliable ass into the next universe."

With this last promise Johnny started to make his way towards the door. Reed watched him go and sat stunned.

"Johnny?" he asked, wanting more explanation for the sudden heart to heart and serious exchange of words.

"I gotta go Reed, lots to do in my last hours."

"Bye Johnny," Reed mumbled, shook his head, and returned to his computer screen.

* * *

Ben was sitting in the living room. He wasn't watching TV, or reading, or doing anything, he was just sitting on the couch, staring straight ahead, motionless, as if he really was an inanimate man made of rock.

Unlike the approach he took with Reed, for once Johnny restrained himself from joking with The Thing, and instead sat solemnly next to him on the couch. Ben knew he was there, but did nothing to acknowledge his presence.

"Where's Alicia?"

"Taking a nap. I'm gonna wake her pretty soon, but, she's tired."

"It's all pretty exhausting."

"Yeah."

Still Ben hadn't turned to look at him; hadn't moved anything other than his jaw to speak.

"Ben, I'm sorry."

"Shut up kid."

It wasn't a response of anger, as Ben had delivered it with a little chuckle. No, it was a dismissal because to Ben, Johnny had absolutely nothing to be sorry for.

"I'll probably wish I had, but I'm gonna say this anyway. I am sorry if my … jokes have ever really hurt you. It's just, the only reason I come down on you so much, especially in public, is I want you to feel normal Ben, and it's the only way I really know how."

"You think reminding me all the time that I look like this, makes me feel normal?" Ben questioned incredulously.

Johnny looked away for a second before replying thoughtfully, "There was this guy I knew in high school, well, I didn't really know him, he went to my high school though. Anyway, he was in a wheelchair, and you know what, he never had any fun, and it wasn't because of the wheelchair, it was because of people. People wouldn't talk to him, hell, I hardly talked to him, because they were scared of saying the wrong thing and accidentally reminding him that he couldn't walk and causing some terribly awkward situation. And nobody would joke around with him for that same reason - everyone just felt awkward and pretended he wasn't in a wheelchair, when, duh, it's right there. I'm getting to a point - one day Sue couldn't get off work to pick me up from football and I ended up talking to this guy for like an hour in the courtyard somehow. Not surprising, he told me how he hated how no one ever mentioned his wheels. He knew of course, and had accepted, that he was in a wheelchair, and he wasn't going to get offended or hurt if someone said something about it, because it's not something a guy can forget, ever. But he can accept it. He wanted to be treated like one of the guys, and guys wail on each other. Regular guys make fun of each other over how they look, the women they get, the jobs they do, that's how guys work. And this guy just wanted to joke around and have other people accept him and be comfortable around him, so he could better accept himself."

"I make fun of you a lot Ben, but I accept you, so I treat you like a regular guy. I just know that if I _didn't_ say anything, if I didn't make those jokes, nobody would. And you'd never get angry at me, or laugh when you get me back, and then maybe you wouldn't feel like you were really a part of anything either. Maybe if I didn't always put it out there like that, you'd just be stuck forever in rooms full of people all avoiding you and the fact that you're a two ton man made of rock, and you'd never get to laugh about anything. And maybe I'm wrong, but I know I wouldn't want to live like that. But if you did then I'm sorry."

A long silence dragged out as Ben took this all in and finally turned to Johnny with an expression that was a mixture of surprise, respect and appreciation. But mostly surprise.

"Jesus kid, you sure know how to get serious every time the end of the world comes rolling around," Ben said with light humor, though he clearly had appreciated the sentiment and taken it to heart.

Johnny didn't laugh though, "I know, it's just, this time I think it really could be the last time, and I wanted you to know."

"Thanks Johnny, that means a lot. And if this isn't the end, consider yourself free to call me Pebbles anytime, any place."

"Thanks Ben, I'll take you up on that … if you stop calling me Tinkerbell. I mean, we gotta draw the line somewhere between joking and downright mean," Johnny told him with a smirk.

"Yeah, that will take the end of the world. Unless of course you prefer Twinkle Toes."

"Nah never mind, Tink's starting to grow on me. I gotta go find Sue big guy, when you wake her up, hold Alicia extra tight for me, all right?"

Thanks to their conversation a few months earlier in a Yancy St. bar, Ben wasn't offended by Johnny's statement concerning Alicia, and knew the Human Torch was just happy that Ben had somebody to hold in his final hours.

"I will, kid," Ben promised, and then asked with genuine concern, "Johnny, you all right?"

"Words cannot describe my friend. Take care of yourself," Johnny said seriously, and then, to Ben's amazement, the brazen, crass Johnny Storm that lived life without an ounce of respect for anyone, turned on his heel before he reached the doorway and performed a crisp, straight-faced, honest salute. In that small motion was all the respect and dignity that the action usually bestowed on its recipient, all aimed directly at Ben.

The superhero known as The Thing was honestly choked up for a moment, and before he could reply, Johnny Storm had disappeared into the hallway.

"Must be the end of the world," Ben muttered, but felt the truth of Johnny's words and actions deep in his gut, and he would remember that feeling for a long, long time.

* * *

Last, but certainly not least.

The hardest button to button, as it were, but it had to be done. Taking a steadying breath, Johnny pushed open the door.

"Sue?"

She was sitting on the bed she shared with Reed, legs crossed, photo album in her lap, tears fighting to escape from her eyes. There was no need for words, or stories, or jokes to break the ice. This was his sister. His family.

Johnny sat on the bed beside her and said only, "Come here."

Though known for her stubbornness, Sue complied immediately and collapsed into his arms, but not to sob and expel her grief. Instead she took comfort from her brother and soaked up his strength, his life and his warmth, both figuratively and literally. He was always so alive, experiencing the world and everything around it and so eager to see and do even more, so at this time when the world seemed about to end, she clung to him in order to feel as much life as possible.

"I love you, sis. I can't remember the last time I said it, and I'm sorry for that, but I love you, okay."

"Johnny, I love you too."

"You know, when we were young I always figured we had to look out for each other, because we only had each other, and I wanted to be there for you so much, but in the end it was all you Sue. You raised me and yourself, got us both on the right track in the world and you were always there for me, always. You're just so strong Sue, you never asked for anything, from me, from anybody, you just took care of it all. Even without these powers, you've always been fantastic. And as much as I wanted to, I never got the chance to protect you the way I wanted to, to be a real brother to you, like you were a sister to me. I'm sorry I'm so reckless all the time, and we both know I won't change, I can only hope that now that it's almost time … I just hope that you'll be proud of me."

Sue pulled away and looked him in the eye. There was no look of confusion on her face like there had been with Reed and Ben because unlike them she was not surprised that her brother had hidden depths. But she did have a look of sympathy and regret.

"Johnny, I am proud of you and I love you too. You've grown up a lot, you stopped Doom twice, you saved the world. I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry I never told you that before and that you ever had to doubt how proud I am to be your sister."

"We're family, some things you don't need to say," Johnny reasoned, but Sue shook her head.

"We should still say them."

He nodded and looked at his sister, really saw her. He saw her love, compassion, strength and integrity and it boggled him how he could be related to someone so above extraordinary. He didn't even feel in the same league as his sister when it came to morality and inner-strength, but she loved him, and was proud of him and cared about him. He would miss that.

He would miss her.

He almost said it out loud, but stopped himself in time. He looked into her eyes and knew it would be the last time he ever saw them, and he felt tears threatening to betray him because he wasn't sure he could do it. Wasn't sure he could just walk away from Sue like he had Reed and Ben. He didn't know if he was even strong enough to get out of this room, let alone the building, knowing he'd never see his sister look at him like this again, with love and pride. The Surfer had said he had seen the strength inside of him, so he had to believe it was there and Johnny fought to find it. With a powerful impact, he lunged forward and embraced his sister, not violently, but almost as if to imprint her onto himself, so he could take some of her with him, wherever it was he was going.

"I love you, sis."

He broke off the hug and bolted for the door, careful not to look into his sister's face again, as he wanted to cherish his last image of her and leave while his resolve was strong.

"Johnny, wait! Don't leave again, please," Sue begged, desperate to have her family together when the end came.

Her voice stopped him in his tracks and he almost broke. Turning slightly, but still not facing her, he said, "I won't leave, I just got a couple things to do. I'll be back. I promise."

Sue considered this, weighed it, and finally spoke softly, "Okay."

And with that word Johnny was released and was able to finish his trip out of the room. Once in the hallway he collapsed against the wall, and willed himself to breathe. Tears pricked at his eyes and he forced them away like he had his entire life and he forced his mind to straighten itself out, convince himself it wasn't a big deal, but it was. The last words he would ever get to say to his sister, and he had lied to her.

He felt sick to his stomach because he knew he would not be coming back. The Gorgun required a sacrifice, and it was him or the world. It wasn't much of a choice really, and Johnny knew what he had to do, but he longed, craved to turn around and go back to Sue and tell her everything. Explain to her why he had to do this and how much he would miss her and how he wished there was another way.

But there was no time for that. Norrin was waiting on the roof, Johnny had finished his good-byes so it was time to leave.

* * *

Johnny walked up the steps leading to the roof feeling heavier than he ever had in his life. Every muscle and nerve felt reluctant to keep going, somehow knowing that he was leading them all to their destruction, but he forced them to continue. When he got to the roof he was almost disappointed that the Surfer was still there. It would be so much easier if he would have left, the world would have ended, but Johnny would have been able to do nothing about it, he could have taken no responsibility, and he wouldn't be faced with the task he was being given now. He had to become strong enough to stop the Gorgun, the entity that had destroyed a thousand solar systems before this one, and he had to do it quickly or the entire planet would pay the price.

Norrin Radd's solemn posture had not dissipated in any way during Johnny's absence, he had waited as though a statue. The Surfer turned and faced Johnny as he came up the stairs, not needing to be alerted of his presence.

"You are ready.'

An image of Sue flashed in front of his eyes. She would be strong enough to do this. She would never falter. Her strength, was his strength, and he knew when he was gone she would be strong enough to go on without him.

"Yeah, let's do this."

"Very well."

* * *

"Johnny? Hello?" The voice was soft, curious as to where the Human Torch was, and gently imploring him to answer, not demanding.

"Hey Susie."

It wasn't the person she had been looking for, but she smiled nonetheless, "Hi Ben. Have you seen Johnny?"

"Yeah a few minutes ago, we actually had a real good talk. That punk never ceases to amaze, does he? Too bad it takes a time like this to make people say what they really feel, huh? Anyway, he said he was looking for you," Ben explained, still sitting sedately on the couch, as if Johnny had frozen him with his honest words.

"He found me but he took off again. We actually had a good talk ourselves, made me realize we should all be together right now," Sue suggested.

"That's the best idea I've heard in days. Let's find the little heartbreaker then, maybe he went to see Reed to work his crazy, touchy-feely mojo on him too," Ben guessed.

"Yeah maybe," Sue agreed, but didn't fail to notice that even though Ben was trying to make light of Johnny's actions, the big man was clearly very touched and emotional at the moment. "I thought Johnny and I had a serious talk, but, he really got to you didn't he?"

Ben didn't deny it.

"He saluted me Sue, a true, honest, heels together salute. The damnedest thing I've ever seen," Ben said, his disbelief still evident even though he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

"Wow. I guess none of us gave him the credit he deserved," Sue added as they approached Reed's lab.

"Gave who, what credit?" Reed asked, meeting them in the doorway.

"Johnny," Sue immediately answered before realizing, "Were you about to leave the lab?"

Reed looked chagrined for a moment, but stood up tall, "Yes, actually. I was going to come and find you, well, because of Johnny actually. He made me see that there is too little time left to find an answer, but there is enough time left to be with the people who are the most important to me. My family."

Sue's eyes teared up and she threw her arms around Reed's neck, "Oh, Reed I love you. Whatever happens."

With a content, relieved sigh, Reed embraced her as well, "I love you Sue. I never stopped."

"It don't feel right to have touching moments like this without the Matchstick that set it all up," Ben commented.

"You're right Ben. Where is Johnny?" Sue asked as she pulled away from Reed.

"I haven't seen him for about half an hour," Reed replied then stepped back into his lab to take a seat at the closest monitor station. "His communicator isn't on, but the tracer says he's on the roof."

With a few more keystrokes from Reed the data from Johnny's tracking device switched to images from a surveillance camera overlooking the roof.

"He's with the Surfer," Reed reported as he watched the two talking on the top of the building.

Sue came around the peer over her husband's shoulder at the screen, "What is he … Johnny! No!"

No sooner had the exclamation of fear and panic left Sue's throat than she was racing for the door, with Ben and Reed only a few steps behind her as they all ran towards the roof. There were a lot of questions that needed answering, but Sue could only see one thing in her mind, and that was the image from the surveillance monitor of the Silver Surfer attacking her brother.

* * *

After Johnny confirmed that he was indeed ready to do what was necessary to save his home, the Surfer stepped forward with surprising little ceremony and placed his palm against Johnny's chest. The pure power radiating from that one hand was incredible and took the young hero by surprise. Johnny had thought he had felt the Surfer's power before, when they first met and fought, but now he understood that Norrin Radd could have destroyed him easily with less than a thought at the time if he'd wished. Johnny could now feel that the power of the Surfer was universal, cosmic and incomprehensible, not to mention crackling against the fabric of his uniform as it built up, sparked and shifted anxiously against him, like a wave trying to break through a levee. Then suddenly the Surfer's voice pounded through the air like lightning:

"Johnny Storm, I hereby declare you Herald of Galactus!"

The power surged and Johnny screamed.

TBC

Wow, that was sooo long. I know that was a lot of serious Johnny and talking and such, but now that the mushy stuff is all out of the way we can get into the fun angst. It's gonna be a rollercoaster from here on in folks! Hang on tight!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks to my fabulous reviewers as well! Although this chapter took awhile to get out, it would have taken even longer if not for these amazing people!

Darkemberdagger - Sorry I didn't update faster. University has started again and I had the flu recently, but your review definitely helped push me to get this done. It's great to know you're enjoying my fic.

Silver Dog Demon - Thanks so much for that fantastic review! I also am a huge fan of Johnny angst, and if you like Johnny being more mature than you probably really enjoyed this chapter. It was fun writing his mature side through this whole thing, but I'm starting to miss his fun side, which I can't wait to bring back in later chapters. Norrin will be discussing Johnny's soul in later chapters as well, if my outline goes as planned. As for Johnny burning in space, we'll just have to see how this whole Herald thing goes, won't we? Thanks again.

Silverangel83 - I actually meant to write to you! I had already started the outline for this fic when you posted the first chap of your story and I thought "oh no, she's gonna thank I'm a copier!" but I've been keeping tabs on your fic, and it's very enjoyable, and there are similarities but I was glad to see that we seem to be heading in different directions. I actually think I enjoy reading fics more myself, I read a lot more than I write, but when I have a story idea I just have to get it down. I hope you continue your fic, thanks for writing.

Raynne - thanks for the encouragement. I want to try to make chapters come out more regularly, but with school there's no telling when I can get some computer time. Appreciate the review!

PrincessFBI - I love when people spell 'gawd' that way, seriously! In my Pirates of the Caribbean fic, I had Jack say it like that, and a reviewer actually pointed out that I spelt it wrong, I couldn't believe it!!! Anyway, thanks for the review!

German Girl - ah, you reviewed twice, I guess I did take awhile to update, sorry. Thanks for the great review though, I love knowing what people are enjoying in the fic. Because people told me how much they loved all the Johnny and Ben serious stuff, I put a lot of mature, angsty conversations in this chapter and I hope it all worked. I will tell you this much, Johnny does not die, but I do have a lot planned to happen to him, not much of it pleasant, but death is not in the plans. I don't kill my favorite characters, that's just wrong. Thanks so much for reading!

Kuriei137 - Hey, I realize it may seem like I'm speeding things up quite a bit, but that's because I want to get to the good angsty parts, and I actually have quite a bit planned to happen with the Surfer and Johnny and the Gorgun, so don't worry, it won't be over too quickly at all. Sensitive Johnny seems to be everyone's favorite - I love it too - serious things just mean so much more coming from a person who always jokes around. I appreciate the review!

Moogsthewriter - so you're feeling a vibe huh? Well, I'm not going to say you're totally off, there's a few surprises along the way, but I wouldn't totally disregard that vibe. Thanks for the review!

Kanny - Thanks for all the praise, I really take it to heart and it helps get chapters out faster. Sorry I took so long to update. Hope you enjoy!

Sheela - you're on the right track, but there's a few things that have to be done before this whole 'moth to flame' scenario can be played out. I figured a lot of people would be able to guess the general idea that Johnny was gonna have to stop this thing, so now I'm working hard to try to keep a few surprises in there, but as you said, there are lots and lots of possibilities. And don't worry, LOTS of Johnny angst to come.

Brakkari - I'm so glad you're enjoying the fic, but unfortunately I don't know any other place to get F4 fanfiction, I've looked as well. I'm on quite the Johnny kick myself lately and since I was having trouble finding good fic I decided to write my own. Thanks so much for reviewing, sorry I couldn't be more help.

Sunkisst - thanks for the review, every kind words helps me sit my butt down and work on another chapter.

Iaveina - I know, two chapters of build up, and here I've ended a third and still hardly anything's happened. I'm terrible for always writing too much backstory. Oh well, I like to keep all my bases covered plotwise. Hope you're still enjoying, I'll try to get more out soon.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond, I devoured every word. Questions, comments, and suggestions all are accepted in the form of reviews. Thanks so much for reading, I'll try to have more soon, Robinyj!!!


	4. Need

Wow, just WOW! The response to the last chapter was incredible, beyond anything I could have hoped for! I'm so sorry this took so long, I'm extremely busy with play rehearsals at school and homework, blah, blah, blah. I would love to write a personal thank you to all my reviewers, but it would just take so much time that I'm only able to respond to a select view. I'm so sorry. But I love all of you, and thank you so much for the support. Here is the next chapter of:

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

_Infinite white light, darkness, explosions, vision expanding, encompassing millions of miles, in the same instant vision retracting and magnifying down to the atom. Beauty, cruelty, expansion, simplicity, understanding - it was all there. He saw everything. He knew everything. And then …_

"Johnny!"

The transfer was complete, but the connection was severed abruptly when Sue ran up the last few steps onto the roof and immediately created a forcefield in between Johnny and the Surfer, forcing them apart. They hadn't told the rest of the Fantastic Four what they had been planning, therefore when Sue saw the Surfer glowing and her brother screaming as he was bombarded with white energy, she could only imagine he was under attack.

Norrin dropped to one knee, exhausted and disoriented from what he had just done and from having their connection disrupted so abruptly. As for the Human Torch, he was completely unable to support himself. When the connection was lost he stumbled backwards, very close to blacking out from being so overwhelmed; he would have crashed into the ground if Sue hadn't transferred her forcefield to catch him instead.

"Johnny!" Sue yelled again as she ran towards her brother and knelt by his side. "Johnny, can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Johnny could hear her, but also thought he could hear every sound in the universe. He was breathing hard, gasping as if his lungs were bottomless and simply couldn't get enough oxygen, and his eyes were wide, staring straight ahead at nothing but seeming to see more than anyone else.

At the door Reed hung back for a moment to try to get a grasp on the situation, but Ben was quick to move menacingly towards the Silver Surfer.

Grabbing the former-Herald by the shoulder, Ben slammed the Surfer into the wall of the stairwell casing and had to fight the urge not to slam his fists into him, "What the hell do you think you're doing? The world's gonna end in a few hours and you decide this is a good time to take us out? I knew it, you did lead that thing here didn't you? You're working for it!"

Norrin had no response as he was gasping for oxygen as viciously as Johnny was. When he didn't reply Ben pulled back a fist, angry beyond all reason for what he saw as an unprovoked attack - after all, only he got to mess with the matchstick!

"Why you …."

"Ben … no!" Johnny shouted, speaking in starts as he continued to try to pull in oxygen. "I asked … him to …"

"What?" Sue asked, now cradling her brother's head. "Why? What were you thinking?"

It was as if she hadn't spoken. Johnny continued to look into the sky, his eyes wide with disbelief and astonishment, so much so that Sue was starting to think his gasps for breath weren't from pain, but it was more like he was being amazed by something he saw, over and over again.

"Johnny."

"Sue … I see everything … it's …."

"I know Johnny, you flew around the world, you saw everything. Now, what were you doing up here with Norrin?"

"No, not just the world," Johnny corrected her as his breathing seemed to finally even out. "I can see everything, every molecule, every atom, and beyond that, past the stars … it's beautiful. And it all fits together, connected, everything, it's all one."

"What the heck did you do to him?" Ben asked the Surfer harshly as he pushed him up against the wall once more. "He's talking gibberish … wait a minute, why are you still here?"

"You are holding me here," Norrin replied, he didn't have the strength to fight Ben after what he had just done. Truly, he no longer had the strength to take on any of the members of the Fantastic Four, especially its youngest.

"That's never stopped you before. I mean, we didn't take your board or anything so why aren't you running away, shifting through walls or something?" Ben pointed out, trying desperately to figure out what was going on.

"The beacon no longer belongs to me, it goes with the master of the Power Cosmic, the Herald of Galactus, a position I no longer hold," Norrin explained.

"Yeah, then who holds it?" Ben asked before thinking it all through.

"Johnny," Reed answered before Norrin could pull in a breath. He had been standing in the doorway this whole time, observing and his genius mind had easily pieced it all together. "Johnny has the power cosmic."

Reed wasn't asking a question, but Norrin nodded anyway. Sue and Ben looked astonished, and in response the Thing released his grip on the Surfer as Sue slowly helped her brother to his feet, not knowing what to say.

"Johnny?"

Johnny's breathing was now completely normal and he stood up straight and tall. He looked his teammates in the eyes and they were astonished at the serene calmness there, along with a deeper, wise sparkle in his eyes, which shifted to the Surfer before he addressed his friends.

"Norrin, thank you. It's … it's incredible, the entire universe laid out before you so simply … You've given up so much for us, thank you for being willing to do this, to risk even more," Johnny said, his voice now deeper as his body was adapting to its new power.

"Do what? What's he talking about Matchstick," Ben demanded, as the implications of everything so far were too much to take in.

"It's true, I have the power cosmic, I needed it," Johnny answered, then he looked at Sue, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I couldn't risk that you might try to stop us."

"What? So, you've just decided to take on this amazing power without telling us? To fly around the universe and see even more?" Sue asked, looking from her brother to the Surfer and back. "Why would you do this? The world's going to end and you're just going to leave us?"

A great sadness replaced Johnny's wise glimmer as he affectionately pushed his sister's hair behind her ear, "No Sue, I'm going to save you."

"Save me? How? If Norrin can't then you can't. Johnny, what's going on?" she demanded.

"You know what's happening, you just don't want to face it. There's only one reason why I would take this power and you know that, only one reason why I wouldn't tell you what I was doing: I'm going to stop this, I'm going to save everyone."

Tears pricked Sue's eyes, "What about you?

Regret joined the sadness pooling in the depths of Johnny's eyes, "You can't save me Sue. Not this time. I'm sorry, but this is going to be a one way trip I'm afraid."

With these words Johnny extended his arm and flexed his fingers. The Fantastic Four watched in amazement as Norrin's silver board responded to Johnny's call and moved to hover inches above the ground in front of him. "I've already said good-bye. I'll miss you all, and I'm sorry, but there's not much time."

Johnny stepped onto the board and smiled sadly to his sister as he whispered, "Flame on."

Instead of the usual shifting, roaring flames Johnny's entire body began to radiate with pure white light that seemed to be coming from his very core. The board did the same and everyone shielded their eyes for a moment until the light lessened. Johnny nodded to his teammates and without a word the board lifted him into the air and turned to take off.

"No!" Sue shouted as she created a forcefield directly in his path. Johnny stopped the board and put a hand against the field, then turned back to his sister. "There has to be another way, just wait … Norrin can …."

"He can't. _I_ have to, I'm the only one that can. Sue, you have to let me go," he said softly. He easily could have passed through the field, as Norrin had done months earlier, but he knew she was already feeling vulnerable and he couldn't take away from her the little power she thought she had in the situation.

"No, you can't just leave like this. You can't leave me, you're my family … we're each other's family." The forcefield dissolved as the tears finally fell and Sue lost her emotional composure. Johnny didn't take the opportunity to leave though, he flew the board directly in front of her and took her hand into his glowing one and looked her in the eye.

"I'll try to come back, I promise, I'll do everything I can. But this thing has to be stopped or there'll be nothing for me to come back to. I'd never leave you alone Sue, you have Reed and Ben, they'll take care of you. You're so strong Sue, you don't need me anyway, but the world does."

"I do need you," Sue corrected him. "I need my stupid kid brother."

"And I need to take care of my stupid older sister for once. I have to go."

A pause as she nodded, "I know."

Her head was down now, looking at the ground to hide her tears. Johnny smiled as he put a finger under her chin and lifted up her head to look at him, "I love you." The board started to glide smoothly away from her as Johnny finally started to take flight, "Smile sis, I'm gonna be a star."

Then he turned in mid-air, set his focus on the sky, knew where he had to go and set off for space, leaving his world, life and family behind him.

"Good luck, Kid," Ben muttered as Johnny took off. He and Reed had not wanted to intrude on the siblings' farewell and had stayed silent throughout their exchange, but they had heard everything and knew exactly what Johnny and Sue were being asked to give up.

Sue kept from completely breaking down until she felt Reed's hand fall on her shoulder. She turned into his chest and collapsed, trying to find any kind of comfort while she cried.

"Shh, it's all right. He'll be all right," Reed said, though he was far from certain about it.

"It won't be all right. He didn't tell us what he was doing because he knew we wouldn't let him, because he wouldn't be coming back. He's not coming back," she cried, then turned to Norrin and demanded accusingly, "Is he?!"

Norrin shook his head sadly, "The Gorgun are without thought or emotion, only an instinctual hunger and powerful drive for survival. Johnny should succeed in saving your world, but it is unlikely he will have the strength to return."

"Why?! Why, you coward!?" Sue's grief had quickly changed to anger and she tore herself from Reed's arms to pound on the Surfer's chest, "Why him?! You said you couldn't fight the Gorgun! You meant that you wouldn't, because you were afraid, so you sent my brother! Why?"

Norrin allowed her to hit him until she exhausted herself as her blows did not affect him and when she collapsed against him he put a hand on her shoulder, "Susan, I said I could not fight the Gorgun, which was the truth, and even with the power cosmic, your brother cannot fight it either."

"Then where's he going?" Ben asked for all of them.

"Johnny Storm is not going to fight the Gorgun," Norrin told them. "He is going to feed it."

* * *

_Sue looked so upset. _

Johnny had only had a few minutes so far to try to adapt to his new powers and abilities, but the Power Cosmic was such that its master innately knew how to completely control it. In truth the Power Cosmic was not omniscient as it seemed, the limits of its abilities were finite, but it consisted of amazing power, mainly of understanding and the manipulation of matter.

_We've relied on each other for so many years, I don't think either of us realized how much we need the other. _

As he flew into the ionosphere Johnny instinctually understood everything about his surroundings, the composition of atoms in the atmosphere, the exact barometric change in the air as he flew higher and the chemical composition and temperature of the space around him. He didn't have to access this knowledge, he simply felt and knew all of it.

_But she'll survive without me, she's strong. She has Reed and Ben, and if I don't do this she won't survive at all. That's not an option. _

The ability of the Power Cosmic was that of manipulation. Johnny understood all chemicals, all scientific equations and had the power to change and manipulate anything he came into contact with, into anything else, into what he most needed. The power was such that he barely noticed as he automatically changed the entire physiology of his own body to be able to survive in the cold recesses of space as easily as he had lived on Earth. And so he flew from the atmosphere of his home and headed to face the greatest challenge of his life.

The Gorgun.

_If that means I have to become the world's biggest buffet for this Gorgun, then so be it. The world will survive. My sister will survive, even if it is without me._

Johnny flew directly into the massive entity's path, stopped and waited. It was very close, only a few hours away from the sun, and only a few minutes away from him. He was running out of time, but there was time. With one final look of longing he turned to Earth and remembered everything and everyone he loved about it and was almost overwhelmed by what he was about to sacrifice, but he also knew exactly what he was about to save, and it was so much more important. He turned to watch the Gorgun's approach - it was a trillion microscopic lifeforms travelling together across the universe, with no face, no personality, but he could feel its hunger, its drive for sustenance, fire, energy - and that's exactly what it was about to get.

_It's lunchtime you great mass of destruction, you._

All thoughts of Earth, home and family left Johnny's mind as he focussed entirely on the task at hand. At drawing in every loose particle and atom in the area towards him and manipulating everything into what he needed - helium, hydrogen, and so forth, but he didn't need to call in a catalyst, he was more than enough. The energy built inside him and he kept it in, could feel it churning and growing until he felt his body might be pulled apart by it, but he had to make sure it was enough, he only had one chance.

_People used to say I wasn't too bright. Wait until they see me now._

Everything was ready - fuel, mass, energy and the Gorgun was almost upon him. As the energy inside him built to its peak he saw only one face, pushing him to give everything to ensure this worked, even his life. It was the face he knew best in the world, and the one he would miss the most. Power and energy ripped through him, igniting, living through only his will, and he had to remain to ensure it was enough to satisfy the great beast that was barreling down on him.

_Good-bye Sue_.

Flame on.

* * *

"What do you mean he's going to feed it? As in, feed himself to it?" Reed asked in response to Norrin's cryptic reply.

"The Gorgun come to feed off the heat and energy of your star and from it will take the energy needed to sustain their journey through the universe and into the next star system. However, the Gorgun are not insatiable and will not devour all to the point of extinction if there is an excess of what they desire," Norrin said, though his answer was clear to Reed it was obvious Sue and Ben were slightly confused.

"So, if Johnny can create enough heat and energy to satisfy the Gorgun's needs in this system, it will move on and leave the Sun untouched and life in this solar system will continue uninterrupted," Reed clarified.

"Yes, but the energy, the strength that will be required to create and maintain such a mass is incredible by all standards. Johnny Storm must be willing to push himself, perhaps even beyond the boundaries of the Power Cosmic," Norrin continued.

Though the Surfer's explanation was calm, Sue's emotions were still in turmoil and the despair she felt at the sacrifice her brother was making was coming out as anger and confusion.

"But why Johnny? You said he has the Power Cosmic now, but so did you and you didn't say anything about this. You could have done this, or one of us, it didn't have to be my brother!"

Again, Norrin took no offense to her anger, "It did Susan. He understood the terms of this plan of action and accepted them, which is fortunate, as he is the only being on your planet capable of any chance of success."

"Why's that? What can Johnny do that your fancy Power Cosmic can't?" Ben asked, who was angry, like Sue, that they had not been told of Johnny's plan, or given the chance to sacrifice himself in Johnny's place.

"The Power Cosmic is beyond explanation - it is great knowledge, insight. The ability to understand how everything in the universe functions together. This ability magnifies the natural powers of its bearer. My people are scientists, explorers, which is why I was an ideal choice for Galactus's herald, to seek out worlds for his hunger. Johnny Storm creates flame and fire all on his own, the very essence of the Gorgun's life force, and with the Power Cosmic this ability will be increased a thousand fold. Only he will be able to create and maintain what even I could not, a living star."

"That's impossible," Reed muttered, earning stares from Ben and Sue. "Do you have any idea how big the sun is? How massive? It's mind-boggling to even think about, its mass alone is equal to more than 300, 000 planets the size of Earth, it's … it's simply impossible. The heat, the volume, it's … it's just incomprehensible."

"It is the task your team mate has set out to accomplish to save your world," Norrin explained.

Sue suddenly chuckled sadly to herself and drew a confused stare from Reed and Ben, "Smile sis, I'm gonna be a star' that's what he said to me. I didn't think he meant it literally."

Before Reed could comfort her once more the roof's occupants all flinched and shielded their eyes as a massively bright light overtook the entire landscape. The initial intensity lasted only a moment, but when it was done the sky was brighter than it had been a moment before and the temperature had raised almost instantly several degrees. When their eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, everyone's gaze traveled to the sky, and the members of the Fantastic Four gasped at what they saw.

"He did it," Sue muttered, tears stinging her eyes from the light, as well as from pride and sadness.

"A second sun," Reed said in astonishment, "It's … it's not possible. The energy output necessary, the mass … the power required would be extraordinary, to maintain it would be almost impossible."

"Johnny loves doing the impossible," Ben commented.

Indeed, there in the sky was the impossible. Johnny had created a second sun of almost equal size to the original, but appearing even larger to those on Earth because it was several thousand light years closer than the original and also in the direct path of the Gorgun.

"I have to get to my lab," Reed announced. "The repercussions of this are incredible. Two stars of such mass occupying one galaxy in space … it defies all physics, it …"

"Reed, that's Johnny out there, trying to save the planet, not some science experiment for you to study," Sue admonished him, for which he was good enough to hang his head.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Let's … let's go to the lab anyway. We can patch into the satellite feed and observe the Gorgun's approach to see what happens to Johnny," Reed suggested solemnly.

Sue had her arms wrapped tightly around herself, despite the sudden rise in temperature from Johnny's sun, and nodded as she started towards the stairs. Ben wasn't far behind her but Reed hung back to ask the Surfer a question.

"Norrin, I have to ask you something. Please don't think I'm not grateful for what you've done for us, but I have to say that I'm surprised you'd be willing to give up your powers like this, especially after we took them away from you, and what Victor did with them. I'm just amazed you'd be willing to trust a human with a responsibility like this, especially Johnny, it doesn't seem like we've proven ourselves worthy enough of your trust to have earned this."

Norrin thought for a moment before his reply, "Johnny Storm has proven himself worthy of the opportunity to save his world, as I was given the choice to give up my own, in order to save it. Doom was an evil force of your world that your team overcame, proving that goodness exists in humanity. In this, Johnny showed he has the physical and mental ability to withstand great power, such as he did when he absorbed your powers to stop your enemy. Most importantly though, Johnny Storm does not covet power that is not his own, which was obvious to me when he immediately returned your abilities to each of you when he no longer had need of them. In truth, Reed Richards, the reason I feel strongly that I may trust Johnny with this responsibility is that your teammate does not crave power as your enemy did. He merely wants the power to save humanity, and those important to him, which is something I could not deny him."

Reed nodded at this, amazed that he had never once noticed these deeper qualities in Johnny that the Surfer had picked up on right away. Johnny was just so boisterous all the time, so cocky and playful, it was easy to forget there was a serious side underneath his light exterior.

"Thank you, for giving him the chance. We can only hope he succeeds," Reed replied as he led the way to the lab once more.

"Of that I have no doubt."

"Reed, get down here and work this gizmo, we can't see a thing!"

"Coming Ben," Reed promised with a sigh. He raced down the stairs, knowing if he left Ben to try to figure out how a piece of machinery worked, it was very likely to get smashed in the process. Just as he worried, he came in to see Ben two seconds away from putting his fist through the monitor that he couldn't get to change images. "Ben, wait! I've got it, just one second."

Reed sat down at the console and typed in a few commands. The camera on the satellite shifted perspectives panning across open space, but when it got closer to Johnny's star the screen became completely white.

"Hey, what's going on? Why can't we see anything?" Ben demanded. Reed held up a hand to calm him down before he spared a quick glance at Sue, to see she still had her arms wrapped around herself and was struggling not to explode with anxiety as she waited for the image to show her what was happening to her brother.

"Johnny's sun is burning as hot and bright as the original, I'm filtering out the excess UV light so we can see what's happening. There!"

The screen suddenly came into focus and they could see the massive sun Johnny had created and was maintaining. At least, they could see most of it, as it was too large to entirely fit onto the screen. Reed pulled the image back a little, and they saw more of the sun, but they also cringed when they saw the Gorgun quickly approaching. The huge sparkling mass of life forms was heading straight for Johnny's sun, reaching for him hungrily. Their appetite was almost insatiable and it was Johnny's job to feed them all he could, no matter what the strain or how hard it became.

Sue turned away, she couldn't watch. Her brother had been given the power of the cosmos, the power to do almost anything, and the only option he had to do with it, was to sacrifice himself to save everyone on the planet from extinction. She could bear knowing that he was giving up his life to save the planet, but she couldn't stand to see her brother devoured, as much as she needed to know what happened.

Reed and Ben however could not turn away from the monitor, what was happening was too important, too encompassing. The entire world depended on what they were watching happen but they knew it was best that Sue had turned away because the Gorgun were starting to feed.

TBC

Not my favorite chapter, but necessary to get to the fun stuff that is coming, which I'm very excited about. And I know it takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth, so technically they shouldn't have seen Johnny's sun within the amount of dialogue I provided, but we'll just say it's super-light that goes faster than light. As for my super reviewers, you are all incredible, amazing people, and I love you! I unfortunately don't have time for personal responses to each of you so I'd like to thank : Ashley, SuNkIsSt, marissa, Pog Mahon, nyxlily, you wish you knew me, heartfallen, dietwater, kelseyg, maya, supernatural16, Frozen waterz, LuffysAngel, silverangel83, Danii x2, Susan, Kanny, burnbabyburn123, MeaghanA, Templa Otmena, Twilight Kitsune for your wonderful reviews. And now just a quick note to those of you that wrote something that especially touched me. Thanks so much!

Dark-Angels-Tears - Your threat was very motivational, as I could not bear to be responsible for the loss of your feet. I like capitals, keep using them. Thanks for the review.

Siyavash - Wow, one of the best reviews I've ever gotten. Seriously. It is amazing to think that I made you like a character you didn't enjoy before. I find some people write Johnny really childishly and as a comic reader it bugs me a lot because Johnny has a lot of depth that they do show in the comics quite a bit. I'm very glad you now like Johnny, but you'll have to wait and see what happens to him. Muhahahah.

Rebell - Lol, yeah, I stopped there. I love the cliffhanger, I gotta say. This chapter was actually going to be a page shorter than it is now, but the ending was intense enough so I had to write a little more. It's still not too bad though, I think. In all I think there will be four or five more chapters - there's going to be complications to this simple plan, as will be revealed later. I'm quite excited about them. Hope you survive, thanks so much for the review!

Miarath - thank you for reviewing all the chapters and not just skipping to the last, it was greatly appreciated. And everything you said was so nice, it was short but it was heartfelt and meant a lot. I hope this continues to meet people's standards.

German Girl - You're awesome too. I was also surprised how well those good-bye scenes turned out. Glad you're enjoying.

Pinkchick - Thanks so much. It took awhile to get those inner feelings scenes just right and I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying them. Yeah, Johnny's a master at hiding those feelings until he really can't anymore. Hope you're still enjoying.

Iaveina - Glad there wasn't too much backstory. This cliffhanger doesn't seem nearly as bad to me as the last one but I might not be a good judge since I know what's going to happen. Hahahaha. Ebil me.

Moogsthewriter - There is going to be about four or five more chapters, chock full of what I hope will be surprises. They will be angsty, and they will hopefully rock. Thanks for the review.

Kuriei137 - It's gonna be pretty cataclysmic if all goes all planned. I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter, I spent a lot of time on that Johnny and Ben scene so it's good to know that everyone appreciated it. Hope you'll be sticking around for the exciting events to come!

That is it for now. I don't know when they'll be more, but it's a long weekend coming up, you can always hope!!! There will be four or five more chapters before the story ends, so don't walk away thinking Johnny's going to save the world and leave it at that. Nothing is ever that simple for our team. Stick around to find out what happens. Thank you all again, you inspire me to keep writing (you, and Chris Evans's hotness. Mmmmmmmmm). Later, Robin.


	5. It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's

It's been months. I'm sorry. It's long, so forgive me and enjoy:

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

"The Gorgun's speed picked up almost instantly when Johnny's sun was formed," Reed explained. "They obviously detected the appearance of the massive energy source in front of them and are reaching for it."

The faces of the diminished Fantastic Four were all grim as Reed explained solemnly what they were all seeing. However, one face was as stony as usual. Ben turned to the Surfer, again irritated by his seeming lack of emotional response, but was also curious.

"What's gonna happen when those things reach Johnny?" he asked in a solemn whisper, scared for his team mate's fate but not wanting to upset Sue again.

Norrin's brow furrowed and he shook his head apologetically, "I can not say."

This fueled Ben's anger once more, "You can't say? Look pal, our friend is risking his life out there and I'm sick of your half answers, now what's gonna happen?"

It was obvious that Norrin was frustrated with himself, as he had again managed to not explain himself to the Thing's liking, "I would not withhold that information if I possessed it. The Power Cosmic gave me the ability to understand the Gorgun and its behavior, and allowed me to formulate this plan. However, when I gave up the Power Cosmic I gave up this understanding as well, therefore I do not know what will happen, but I remember knowing this plan should succeed."

Ben deflated and accepted this with a sigh, "Well, that's something at least."

"Something's happening."

Reed's announcement drew everyone's attention to the large monitor displaying Johnny's star. Even Sue who was turned away and silent, as though trying to convince herself she was somewhere else, turned to watch. On the screen they could see the first tendrils of the immense black mass wrapping around the outside of the newborn sun. The life forms were dark when they approached, except for the occasional organism combusting energy, but as they reached the outer corona of flames they began to glow a similar fiery red.

"What's happening?" Ben asked as Reed's fingers flew over the keyboard, bringing up a set of sensor readings alongside the image of Johnny's sun.

"It's hard to be sure, there's a lot of interference from the excess heat and energy in the system, but it looks like the Gorgun organisms are feeding and turn red as they absorb the energy within the sun and store it for fuel. It must be an incredibly efficient system to sustain them until they reach the next galaxy." Sue was yet to speak but glared at her husband as he again went off on a scientific tangent while her brother risked his life. He was good enough to look chagrined as he saw this and replied softly, "The readings show no change in the star though, Johnny's still maintaining it."

"How long can he do that?" Ben asked.

Reed shook his head, "I can't begin to imagine how he's done it so far. We just don't have enough information about any of this to give any kind of definitive answer for anything."

"Especially since Norrin's innate understanding of this thing went with Johnny into space." Ben wasn't actually angry with the Surfer for not being able to tell them more, but he was frustrated with the whole situation and had to vent his feelings somehow. As Ben and Reed talked though, Sue's eyes were fixed to the screen and the readings being displayed. As more and more of the entity's organisms swarmed around and into Johnny's sun, absorbing its energy, Sue was watching the sensors closely and with dread.

"Reed." It was the first thing she had said in several minutes as she pointed to a portion of the screen.

They all looked and Reed frowned, "The temperature of Johnny's star, it's dropping slightly, not all of the organisms have even reached it yet."

"That's not good, is it?" Ben asked Norrin, even though the alien had already explained that he knew as much as they did.

"I do not believe so."

All eyes were on the screen, and all stomachs dropped along with the temperature of their new star.

"Come on Johnny," Sue whispered, biting her lip.

Still hitting keys, Reed was shaking his head, "The Gorgun have barely begun feeding. If Johnny's losing strength already and can't replenish his star then they'll go for the sun next and we won't be able to stop them."

"He'll do it," Sue said suddenly, soft but strong. "He'll find a way."

"We know Suzie, we know," Ben told her, putting an arm gently around her shoulders.

On the monitor, the black mass of organisms finished their journey.

"The entire entity is now feeding off Johnny's star but the temperature is still dropping. At this rate the star will be drained long before the Gorgun are at energy capacity," Reed announced.

A few moments passed in hopeful silence, but events did not seem promising as the temperature of the new star continued to drop with each second.

Sue ran her hands over her face and looked about ready to burst in frustration as she tugged at her hair. Ben squeezed her again and she released some of her feelings in a growl.

"It's just so frustrating. We're a team, he shouldn't have to do this by himself, he shouldn't be out there by himself, possibly dying for the rest of us. He shouldn't be alone."

Before Reed or Ben had to worry about trying to provide some words of comfort, everyone noticed the light from the monitor suddenly shift and expand.

"What was that?" Sue asked.

Reed chanced to smile, "The temperature just spiked massively. There was an energy jolt from the core that brought the temperature back to its original level. Johnny must have been keeping some energy in reserve." He turned to his wife and squeezed her hand, "He's still fighting and he knows we're there with him."

Sue smiled back and returned the grasp for reassurance.

"Kick their ass Matchstick," Ben cheered.

When he turned around though, Reed noticed a concerned expression on the surfer's face.

"Norrin?" he enquired.

The surfer was silent a moment and then asked, "Reed Richards, may I examine your instruments?"

A moment of dread passed before Reed could give a hesitant response, as Norrin's ominous reply brought down the brief optimism the group had experienced, "Of course."

Norrin sat in the offered chair and ran his fingers over the keyboard as if he had used it his entire life – he no longer possessed the Power Cosmic but he still came from a very advanced technological alien race and had no trouble adapting to Earth technology. The superhero team watched as he brought up new sensor readings and magnified and studied sections of the image on-screen.

"The Gorgun are penetrating to the sun's core," he announced after several moments in response to their inquisitive looks.

"That's bad?" Reed asked.

The answer clearly conflicted Norrin as he appeared hesitant, "I am unsure. I believe in the past they have fed entirely on the outer shell in order to expose the core gradually. They do not simply delve into its innermost parts, as it would create a greater chance of fracture in the star's cohesion."

"But you're not sure?" Ben confirmed.

"Without the knowledge of the Power Cosmic? No, I cannot be certain," Norrin replied.

"Well then, let's just let the kid do his thing and worry about it later," Ben suggested, but Reed was now examining the information Norrin had brought up.

"He's right, the organisms are pushing towards the core of the sun, internal pressure and density is increasing. It doesn't look like they're feeding and drifting inside it, it's more like they're converging on the center," Reed announced.

"Where Johnny is?" Sue asked.

"That is where he would most likely be in order to maintain and replenish the star," Reed answered. "That would be the epicenter of the heat, they may be feeding off Johnny directly, but the temperature doesn't seem to be dropping like before."

"What if they're attacking him?" Sue suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense," Reed brushed off the possibility. "They have no consciousness or emotions, just instinct, and they wouldn't attack something providing them with energy. Whoa … what is that?"

They all blinked. They had all seen it but it had been so fast they couldn't be sure.

"Uh, did the sun just flicker?" Ben's tone made it obvious he was unsure.

"I … don't know. It looked like the flames all started to go out at once and then were reignited. The equipment might be malfunctioning … or Johnny might be losing strength."

Just as Reed announced this possibility, the star flickered once more. When it strengthened again it was noticeably smaller.

"That's not good, the mass and temperature of the sun just took a massive drop. The Gorgun have completely converged on the core of the star, I don't understand … maybe they are attacking Johnny. But why?" Reed pondered.

"Just hold on Johnny, a little bit more," Sue whispered encouragements.

Norrin shook his head, even without the Power Cosmic, he knew, "Something is not right."

"Why don't you be a bit more vague there buddy, it might help things," Ben replied sarcastically, never enjoying the Surfer's cryptic way of speaking.

"I only know events are not transpiring as planned."

"The temperature and mass are nose-diving, the star's losing cohesion, he can't hold it together any more," Reed announced.

As if on cue the star's size decreased drastically, seemingly collapsing in on itself, then, to everyone's surprise the energy exploded, causing a massive shock wave to erupt in all directions followed by a blinding glare. Even with the UV filters on Reed's satellite the screen went completely white for a moment and then the room and building shook slightly, as Earth, and the entire solar system felt the fallout of a shock wave caused by the destruction of a star.

"Whoa, what was that?" Ben asked.

When the image returned to the screen, all eyes widened in shock: the screen showed only open space. All traces of flames were completely extinguished, the star was gone, and so were the Gorgun.

After a moment of confusion, the first sound was Ben's hesitant question, "Where did they go?"

"It looked like the star collapsed, but, that shockwave … it makes no sense. It was so powerful, if Johnny was losing strength he never should have been able to create something like that."

Reed was back at the controls panning the satellite camera to cover as much space as possible, but every image that came up, of the original sun, of planets and of asteroids showed no second sun, no Johnny and no Gorgun.

When they saw that their solar system was empty of all phenomenons the first sound made was Sue's terrified whisper, "Johnny?"

"It can't be but … they're gone, the Gorgun is completely gone," Reed said in a stunned stupor. "Johnny must have found a way … he must have destroyed them, that's what caused the shockwave. They're not anywhere in the solar system."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive, the system's clean, there's no trace of cosmic radiation or combustion events anywhere. The sun's untouched, life on Earth can continue like nothing happened. Johnny did it. He saved the planet."

"Way to go kid, I never doubted 'im for a second," Ben cheered. Sue offered a small relieved smile but was still tense without the knowledge of her brother's fate.

Norrin however, did not share in the festivities and announced ominously, "That is not possible."

"What was that surf-boy?"

"I am sorry, but the Gorgun cannot be destroyed. I no longer fully understand the reason why this is, but I know without a doubt that the Gorgun are an integral part of the universe, which the Power Cosmic could not possibly destroy," he explained.

"Well, there are other explanations – maybe … Johnny teleported them away, or pushed them out of this system or transformed them temporarily. Whatever he did they're gone, we can only hope it's for good," Reed announced enthusiastically, not doubting his readings and the fact that the world had just been saved.

The mood was lessened however when Sue asked intensely, "What about Johnny? Where is he?"

"I … I don't know Sue, I'm sorry. The sensors haven't picked him up yet," Reed had to tell her. Her face was crestfallen with despair so he pulled her into a hug before promising, "I'll keep looking."

Sue nodded and tried to remain hopeful, but couldn't bring herself to speak just yet. Ben also felt the conflicting emotion of wanting to celebrate the Earth's salvation and grieve the possible loss of their team mate. They had all seen the massive explosion and shock wave that had rocked the entire solar system – it was hard to believe anything would be able to survive being in the middle of it all.

"Sue, if anyone can survive that blast it's your brother, after all, he'd never let all the publicity he's going to get from this go to waste," Ben lamely joked to try and lighten the mood. Sue gave a short laugh that was mixed with a partial sob in response.

"Thanks Ben."

A tense silence followed as the Thing's attempt at humor failed slightly, "Yeah well … I guess we got some phone calls to make, the rest of the world is probably wondering what those bright lights in the sky …"

_Beep, beep, beep._

Ben was interrupted by one of Reed's monitors going off across the room. Sue immediately recognized the alarm as the same one that had gone off four days before when the Silver Surfer had first arrived; it detected cosmic radiation approaching Earth.

"Is it Johnny?" Sue asked desperately as she leaned over Reed's shoulder.

"I'm checking. It could just be residual radiation but it looks like it might be traveling."

In seconds he had the satellite image zoomed as closely as possible on a distant section of space. The quality became grainy with so much magnification so they could only just make out a bright white streak traveling towards Earth.

Sue's face lit up, "Johnny! He's alive, he's coming back."

"The radiation signature matches," Reed reported.

"Now that's something to make some phone calls about," Ben cheered enthusiastically as Sue jumped into his arms for a hug.

"I knew he'd come back," Sue sighed in relief.

"Susan," the Surfer's voice broke the celebratory mood with its foreboding tone and he immediately captured the entire group's attention. "I must tell you that your brother may not be coming back at all."

"What are you talking about? Of course he's coming back. Look at the monitor it's the same energy trail made by your board; it's headed this way," Sue argued defensively.

"The beacon may be returning, but there is the possibility that Johnny Storm may not be with it."

"What? What do you mean?" Sue asked with dread.

"You just love bringing down a mood, don't you silver-stick," Ben grumbled.

"Johnny Storm knew the risks of this plan, and that his life might become forfeit in its fruition. He also understood that the Power Cosmic must have a master and cannot drift through space unchanneled. Therefore, when I gave to your brother the Power Cosmic, I left a small remnant of it within myself that the beacon may be drawn to should the current Herald be lost in any way."

"You're saying that my brother might not be coming back? That, that streak is just your precious board coming home by itself and Johnny could just be gone … forever?" Sue asked angrily, but even Norrin understood her tone well enough to know he should not actually answer. Her tear filled gaze turned to the monitor once more – the streak was entering Earth's atmosphere, it would be in New York in a few minutes. Shaking her head, she decided, "I'll believe that when I see it. My brother's coming home."

That said, she turned out of the lab and once more headed towards the stairs to take her to the roof. Ben, Reed and Norrin followed her silently; there was nothing left to say until they knew the truth. Either Johnny had found a new way to stop the Gorgun and was returning home to celebrate, or he had sacrificed himself to ensure Earth's survival and the board was simply returning to Norrin on auto-pilot. They all hoped for the former, that Johnny was alive, but they also had to face the terrible reality that the only thing they may find on the roof was a cosmic-powered board with no rider.

* * *

The group ran to make it to the roof quickly to intercept whatever it was that was heading their way, but their speed was unnecessary as the sky was completely empty. Whatever was coming, it wasn't there yet.

Sue immediately started pacing fiercely, trying to distract herself from the tumult of emotions going through her. It was only an hour since she had last been on this roof, saying good-bye to her brother and watching him fly away to almost certain death. Now she was back, waiting to learn if she had lost her brother after all, and scared to hope that she hadn't.

Reed and Ben stood back, clearly reading her agitation. It was a moment before Reed summoned up the courage to approach her to try to offer comfort.

"Sue …"

But she didn't want to be comforted, "Don't Reed. Not now. Just don't."

He wanted to say more, but her tone was firm, she wouldn't accept any words of condolence. If her team mates were to comfort her, it meant she had to have a reason to be grieving, which would mean her brother was dead and not coming back. She didn't believe that, therefore she would accept no offers to console her over his death.

"There."

The word was spoken softly and without urgency. The group turned to see the Surfer pointing across the horizon; he had spotted the board's return from miles away, either through enhanced alien vision or the connection he retained with the Power Cosmic.

The team's attention was given entirely to the board's approach, as all three super heroes ran to the edge of the roof and squinted hard to try to see if the 'beacon' in fact had a rider. This did no good however, as it was flying too high above their heads for them to see anything but the bottom of the board. Sue's impatience was obvious, despite the fast approach of the object, and unwilling to do nothing any longer she created a force field under her own feet and propelled herself into the sky and towards the white blur.

"Sue, wait here! It might not stop …"

Reed tried, but there was no slowing her down. However, she hardly ever used her powers in this way and with her emotions so strained she was finding it hard to keep her balance as she flew through the air and was forced to crouch down and grip the edge of the force field to right herself.

Fortunately for her, the board was slowing down as it approached its destination, allowing her to make it out clearly. She was still rising into the air to be level with the cosmic device but she felt her concentration nearly break when she saw from below that the board clearly had no rider standing atop of it, and seemed to be flying to the Baxter Building all on its own.

"Sue, come back!" Reed yelled again when he saw her falter.

"Johnny!" she cried, propelling her force field forward and up out of sheer will power. The board was slowing considerably now and it passed by Sue just as she reached the elevation it was flying at. Her heart almost flew out and her shield disintegrated beneath her when she saw what was there – luckily the board's current shape was solid and she was able to land on it as it continued past her. She ended up on her knees on the back edge of the board, just behind the motionless body of her brother.

"Johnny! Johnny!"

It was awkward climbing over her brother with such a thin beam holding them up, but she didn't care, she scooted up the side of the board until her hands could reach Johnny's face. Once there, one set of fingers pushed at his short hair affectionately while the other set desperately felt for a pulse.

"Johnny, can you hear me?"

There was no answer, but there was a heartbeat, she was sure of it. She moved the hand from his neck to his chest and felt it rise and fall as he breathed. He was breathing! Johnny was alive.

"Oh Johnny, thank you. Thank you for coming back!" Sue whispered breathlessly as she was overcome with emotions and went so far as to wrap her arms around her brother's neck, even though he was unconscious and couldn't respond. When she released him she looked him over – there were no cuts, bruises, no apparent injuries of any kind. He no longer glowed either, the white light that had surrounded him when he left was gone; he looked like the old Johnny, short hair, normal skin tone, blue team uniform, all that was missing was the smirk and the attitude. She didn't know why he was unconscious, but hoped it was simply some kind of exhaustion after his ordeal in space.

Voices calling her name made her look up. The board was almost on the roof and she realized Ben and Reed had been yelling at her for some time. She met the eyes of her team mates and smiled as the siblings were lowered onto the roof and they could finally see that she wasn't alone.

"He's alive," she announced through a watery smile as she stepped on to the roof.

The rest of the team sighed with relief.

"Thank god," Reed exclaimed.

Ben came up beside him and smiled down at his motionless friend, "Good work kid. Welcome home."

Sue smirked at Ben's rare praise of her brother and only hoped he would be willing to repeat it again when Johnny was awake to hear it. But there were more pressing matters for now, "Let's get him downstairs and checked out. Norrin, is there any way you can control this to take Johnny to the lab?"

Sue was motioning towards the board, since they had no idea how to make it move, but Norrin seemed to not hear her for a moment as his attention was fixed firmly on Johnny and he appeared deep in thought.

"Norrin?" Sue repeated, wanting her brother moved quickly.

He looked at her this time and nodded, "Yes, it will follow you."

"Okay," Sue replied. She wanted to ask him more about the foreboding look on his face, but decided it could wait until after she knew her brother would be all right. Leading the way to the steps, she constantly looked behind her to make sure the board was indeed following her and Johnny was safely on top of it. She knew it was probably unnecessary, but she also created a force field beneath the stretcher, in case Johnny should somehow fall.

When they made it to the lab Ben picked Johnny up as gently as his stone arms would allow and transferred him to a medical bed where Reed could easily perform tests on their youngest team mate.

"I wonder what happened to the glowing white light," Ben pondered aloud, stepping back as Reed maneuvered equipment all around Johnny's bed.

"I'm more interested in how he destroyed …er…" Reed looked at the Surfer as he corrected himself, "… removed the Gorgun from the system."

"Well, I'd really like to know if he's going to be okay, so …" Sue's tone quickly shut up both Ben and Reed, with the first one stepping back to be out of the way while Reed and Sue took Johnny's vitals. However, things appeared to be not right with the Human Torch from the very first readings that they got, along with every following test they did.

"What the hell … his brain functions are off the charts," Sue muttered in confusion. This feeling only increased as she turned her attention to his blood readings, "His temperature is at 300 degrees, which is less than a hundred degrees high for him, but his blood, there's practically no oxygenation. How is he even alive?"

Reed shook his head, "His entire physiology, it's just off. Every reading is outside of normal parameters, even for Johnny."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Ben asked with dread. The kid looked fine other than the fact that he was unconscious but the machines were telling them something could be very wrong.

"It's impossible to say really, with these readings," Reed answered. "His heartbeat is strong, but irregular. Going off that … I don't know, it's like his entire body's been changed."

"I believe there is an explanation," Norrin announced, grabbing everyone's attention. "The Power Cosmic is the power of manipulation of matter and self. When Johnny Storm entered the vacuum of space his physiology changed to survive those conditions, lowering his need for oxygen and increasing his temperature to what it now is."

"You know, for a guy who says he gave up all his knowledge, you still seem to have a lot of answers," Ben pointed out, completely unable to drop his distrust of their silver companion.

"Will he be okay?" "How do we change him back?" Sue and Reed asked simultaneously.

"I can only theorize that his encounter with the Gorgun has weakened him greatly and drained the energies of the Power Cosmic, keeping him from changing to his original physical state. If he has survived this long, I believe he will recover."

Sue took this information hopefully. Norrin's explanation was all they had to go on, since there was no sense to be made of the readings coming off Johnny himself, "So, we have to wait?"

"When Johnny Storm regains his strength, he should be able to repair all damage done to himself, if there is any," Norrin responded.

With a frustrated sigh, Reed said, "Then I guess all we can do is let him rest. I'll leave the equipment on to monitor his condition, but if something happens I may be reluctant to try to help him with his body chemistry so fundamentally altered."

"Nothing will happen," Sue answered confidently. "He just saved the world Reed, he's not going to quit on us out of exhaustion."

The rest of the team was lifted by her optimism and smiled as well. They also recognized that Sue might want a moment alone with her brother.

"Ben, I think you were saying we've got some phone calls to make," Reed said in departure as he ushered Ben and Norrin out of the room discreetly.

"Yeah, they're gonna be real fun too, trying to explain to the president how a second star appeared in the sky when we don't even understand it," Ben grumbled as he took the hint and followed Reed. Neither man noticed when Norrin hesitated behind them to turn and watch Johnny once more, after a moment his expression became confused as he looked over the readings from Reed's equipment. Something was wrong, but without the Power Cosmic, he couldn't be sure what it was. Its loss frustrated and confused him, so instead of following Reed and Ben he headed towards the roof once more in order to think and feel less confined than he did within the walls of the Baxter Building.

When the room was finally empty and quiet, Sue allowed herself to smile and sigh. Pulling a chair up to her brother's bedside she took his hand in hers.

"Oh Johnny, I'm gonna kill myself worrying about you one of these days. And I know what you'd say to that, 'I'm always fine, what is there to worry about?', but I have to worry, because I'm your sister, and the day I stop worrying is the day I stop caring, and that day's never going to come. So basically, the point I'm getting at is that you're never allowed to scare me like this again, even if the planet's in danger …. Oh Johnny, thank you, for coming back, for finding another way. I don't know how you did it, but thank you. I'm so sorry that you were out there alone little brother. We promised to always be there for each other so I hope you know that I was with you every second, in my own way, we all were. And I know you're tired, and you have a right to be, but if you could just open your eyes for a second and tell me you're okay, that'd be great."

Sue waited expectantly, longing to see her brother's eyelids pull back to reveal those beautiful blue eyes, along with a sarcastic smirk, but she was faced only with disappointment. Johnny continued to lay motionless, showing no signs of consciousness, so she decided to be content with the fact that he was home and he was alive.

"I guess the world's asked enough of you for one day, huh? You get some sleep little brother, you deserve it." With that said she kissed his forehead, ruffled his short hair and settled back in her chair for what she imagined would be a long wait.

* * *

For the next hour the interior of the Baxter Building was wonderfully calm for the most part, though the outside was somewhat chaotic and frenzied. Reed and Ben had both been manning the phones for an hour, letting the world know that the crisis was over, and the President had announced the same thing as quickly as possible. In the streets people shouted with joy and celebrated, with many residents of New York traveling to the Fantastic Four headquarters and cheering outside, showing their gratitude to their saviors and also hoping to get a glimpse of their heroes. The heroes however, would not be making an appearance. 

Sue continued to sit with Johnny, alert for any signs of improvement or change, while Reed and Ben remained stuck on the phones with some of the most powerful people on Earth. Reed was explaining what had happened with the other great minds on the planet, trying to hypothesize how a second star existing in one solar system could even be possible, while Ben was stuck with the boring diplomats and politicians, explaining the limited amount he knew of what had happened and how they were saved. The President had asked to visit, to thank the team in person, but Reed had declined until they were certain that Johnny would recover. The President offered his well wishes, and promised to give him a medal. Reed wondered if telling Johnny that would wake the Human Torch up.

Up on the roof, the team's newest honorary member remained alone in contemplation. Norrin could remember the time not long ago when he would have completely understood everything that had just happened and everything that Johnny Storm had experienced in space and was now going through. But without the Power Cosmic, this understanding was lost to Norrin Radd and he was left only with glimpses of insight and snatches of knowledge, which ignited new feelings of frustration in the alien. He didn't know what had happened to Johnny in space, or what was happening to him now, but he knew something was wrong. The plan had been clear, to feed the Gorgun, and Johnny had diverged from that plan for some reason that Norrin could not imagine or understand. He was able to create simple ideas of what may have happened, but not understanding the situation completely was frustrating the Silver Surfer. He had been a Herald of Galactus for so many years that he was now lost without that knowledge that had always been his constant companion. He finally resolved that even if it was unclear about what his misgivings were and what they meant, he had to share them with the Fantastic Four, so they could try to be prepared for anything when Johnny woke up. If he woke up.

However, just as Norrin turned to take the stairs back into the Baxter Building he was knocked off his feet with bricks and rubble falling around him as the roof erupted in front of him and a fiery white streak raced past him and into the sky.

TBC

So, many of you may have been thinking that this fic was near an end, but NO! There is much more to happen with this tale of cosmic power and destruction and I hope you will all join me next time to find out what is happening with our dear Johnny. I don't know when that next time will be yet, but as always, I hope it will be soon.

But, I do have time to write to my fantastic reviewers!!! You were all so great, and hopefully patient (I hope!) and I love you. I got swamped this chapter so unfortunately I don't have time for personal responses to each of you so I'd like to thank: BlackEyedWicca, SheriffPunk, Maya Mystique, Narifreak39, Luffysangel, dietwater, you wish you knew me, miarath, Iaveina, RAINCLAW, Frozen Waterz, Pog Mahon, moogsthewriter.

Jellybean16 - lol, well, if you thought the chapter 4 ending was bad, you probably don't like this one either. I don't know if it's better or worse, as for the Storm siblings, I'm going to be putting them through the ringer. Johnny may not have died saving Earth but the Power Cosmic can do crazy things to a person.

German girl - Oh, your second review broke my heart. I should have written you sooner. The story is not being abandoned, I'm just crazy busy. I had to watch the movie and read some FF comics over the break to get back into a writing groove, but I think I'm good now. Chapters should become more regular. Thanks so much for caring about my fic.

Silverangel83 - You're probably the first reviewer I've had who apologized for reading a chapter late instead of pushing me to write a chapter sooner, so thanks for that. I don't know about Marvel making this into a movie, it might be a bit too Johnny-centric for their tastes … then again, FF:2 was pretty much a Johnny spotlight show, you never know! I feel so cool for having pushed you to write more. I find it's all in practice really, not even so much talent. My first half a dozen or more fics that I ever wrote were terrible. I actually feel a little sick when I go back and read them. I find that finding fics you really like and picking out what makes them good and working with that usually helps. I hope you keep writing, thanks for the review!

Leenarietto - lol, so when you say you just became a Johnny fan do you mean you just started reading Fantastic Four fanfiction? Great to know you're enjoying the story, I appreciate the capitalized 'awesome' - it made me feel good inside.

Rebell - Thank you so much! It feels good to know that people appreciate the work I put into my fics. Seriously, that was a touching review, hope your heart is still making it through the cliff hangers.

Shadowtheo - no worries if you don't review every chapter, I know I never do until the end when I'm reading someone else's fic, so I can't expect more from others. I appreciate your faith in my creative choices as to whether Johnny lives or dies and what happens to him. I have a lot planned, so there's a couple more chapters to go. Hope it keeps your interest, and keeps you guessing.

Beth - Thanks for the correction, seriously. I guess I just watch too much Star Trek and am used to hearing 'Light years', because looking back I realized that my sentence made absolutely no sense, especially since I even mentioned in my author's notes that light takes 8 minutes to get to Earth from the sun, so a light year is just ridiculous, let alone several thousand! And you didn't forget any zeroes, ff . net just takes them out for some reason.

Pinkchick - Yeah, I didn't exactly get this chap out quickly. Sorry about that, hope it was worth the wait. I agree about this section though, I'm often saddened by the lack of new, quality fic. There's only a handful in the whole category I enjoy re-reading.

Twilight Kitsune - You can try to beat me with a stick, but I might just counter-attack with my nunchuks! So tread softly! Seriously, thanks for the review, I'm glad you like Super-Johnny, I was working hard to make him suddenly wise, but still himself.

That was more than I expected to do. Oh well. Take care everyone, I shall try to rush the next chapter!!! Robin.


	6. First Contact

So how's everyone doing? Yeah, it's been months. My bad. Sorry.

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

Sue yawned and rubbed at her eyes, frustrated that she was so tired. An hour ago she was so anxious and worried about her brother, and the fate of the entire planet, that she was sure she would be awake for days, but with the threat to Earth eliminated and Johnny now safely home she found that exhaustion had caught up with her. As she fought back another yawn she remembered there was a coffee machine just around the corner in Reed's lab. With all the late nights that Reed worked it only made sense for him to have one in there and it was calling to her. She was loathe to leave Johnny alone for any amount of time when he had only just returned but if she didn't get some caffeine she was going to be asleep in a few minutes anyway.

"I'll be right back Johnny, don't go anywhere," she joked as she got up, not too concerned since they were pretty certain that Johnny was just suffering from exhaustion after creating and maintaining an entire star, and would sleep for several hours.

"When he wakes up I just know he's never going to shut up about how he saved the world - again," thought Sue as she walked down the hall. "Then again, he seemed so focussed and responsible up there on the roof, and even before that, when he said good-bye, so it couldn't have just been the Power Cosmic. Maybe my brother's finally growing up."

This optimistic thought made Sue smile at her own naivete, but she could always dream. As she walked back towards the medical lab she cradled her coffee mug and took a long, slow sip of the rejuvenating liquid and then almost dropped it as she turned the corner.

"Whoa," she exclaimed when she saw her brother was now sitting bolt straight up in his bed, legs dangling over the sides and staring straight ahead. "Johnny you scared me."

She put her mug down on the table just as he started to stand with the same stiff posture and emotionless features. There was something wrong with his eyes, something vacant, cold. His silence and movements were so uncharacteristic that Sue halted the hug she had been about to give him and instead asked, "Johnny, are you all right?"

Instead of responding he continued to stare blankly forward and pay no attention to her. Suddenly his hand came up and the Silver Surfboard appeared at his feet. As he stepped onto it his body began to glow with the same pure white light as it had done before on the roof, but now at a much lower intensity.

"Johnny what are you doing? Johnny stop!" Sue yelled as she jogged towards him and instinctually created a forcefield around him. "Wait! Johnny!"

Johnny acted as though neither Sue nor the forcefield were even there. He looked up, chose his destination and flew straight up, through the ceiling, not phasing through it as Norrin often did but actually plowing through the cement and brick and then vanished into the distance.

"Johnny!" Sue was in shock but had enough presence of mind to form a shield to protect her from the debris falling from the hole Johnny had punched in the roof. Looking up she could see shattered brick and broken beams hanging precariously and just barely made out the bright white glow of her brother speeding upwards and away. Knowing she couldn't follow him she turned around and hit the button on the intercom system that connected the entire building.

"Reed, Ben get to the Fantasticar! Johnny's gone and he took half the building with him!"

"What?" Was the immediate response she got from them both and rather than explaining she replied:

"I'll explain in the hangar bay. We have to find him, now move!" she ordered as she raced down the hallway, not sticking by the intercom to answer any more questions that may slow them down from finding her brother. As she ran up a flight of stairs towards the Hangar Bay she met up with Norrin who was coming down from the roof level.

"Norrin! Are you okay? Were you up on the roof just now? Did you see where Johnny went?" Susan asked desperately.

"I am well Susan. I saw Johnny Storm leave in the direction you call north," Norrin explained.

"Okay, thanks, please, come with me. We have to go after him and we could really use your help," Susan pleaded. She had almost just ordered Norrin into the vehicle due to her worry for her brother but then remembered that Norrin was helping them of his own free will and was not a member of their team she could just boss around. Thankfully though, he did not need convincing.

"Of course, any assistance I can offer," he said as he followed her through a coded set of doors.

"Great, thanks. Do you have any idea what's happening to him? I was there when he left but he didn't say anything, he didn't even look at me, he just got on the board and flew away," Sue explained.

"I am sorry, I do not know."

Ben and Reed were just coming in through the door across the room as Sue and Norrin came into the Hangar bay.

"Susie, what's going on? What happened to the kid?" Ben asked immediately.

"I don't know," she said in frustration. "I left the room for one second and I came back and he was awake but he didn't say anything and he wouldn't look at me and he had this really blank look on his face. Then he just flew through the roof and left, Norrin saw him go north."

"Then we better get going," Reed said as they all climbed into the Fantasticar and Reed set the heading.

"Through the roof? As in a big gaping hole in our ceiling? Well, that's just as fantastic as the rest of us isn't it?" Ben muttered as he got into the oversized seat built especially for him and Sue took her usual spot in the middle with Norrin beside her. She frowned as she realized that Norrin had ridden in the car with her more often than her own brother who had been forced to fly alongside by himself last time they used it. Reed didn't have to be the smartest guy on the planet to see how concerned Sue was and offered the only words of comfort he had.

"Johnny's leaving a clear trail of cosmic radiation due to the Board, we should be able to find him in no time," Reed said.

But Sue wouldn't be comforted, "Why did he leave in the first place? What's wrong with my brother? I mean, I know he's reckless but to just tear a hole in the roof of our home - there's something wrong with him."

"You saw the same scans I did Sue, his body chemistry is extremely altered, even for him, it may be that he's simply confused and doesn't know what he's doing …" Reed stopped as he checked the sensors in front of him. "He's stopped. Twenty miles northeast - he's in the middle of nowhere."

"There's gotta be something out there," Ben said, just as confused as all of them as to why Johnny would fly away and then just stop a few miles away in a random spot.

"There's nothing, it's a wildlife reserve, there's just forest and animals," Reed supplied. "He really must be disoriented."

"Susan."

The Surfer's resonant voice easily gained the attention of them all, "Yes?"

"When Johnny Storm left I was on my way to tell you, there is something wrong with your brother."

"Well thanks Captain Obvious!" Ben blurted out in frustration.

"Ben! I swear, you're worse than Johnny," Sue warned. "What do you mean Norrin?"

"He is … changed," was all Norrin would say, as though he was struggling with the right words.

"Of course he is," Ben shouted again, "You're the one who changed him!"

"No, he was changed in another way beyond my doing. I cannot fully understand, but the being that returned to you was not the same Johnny Storm that left this planet."

"If you don't start making sense in the next two seconds pal!"

"Ben!"

"Hey! We're here!" Reed shouted over the argument beginning behind him. The fight was forgotten as all eyes turned to the front and the Fantasticar slowed down to gradually approach the glowing, motionless figure floating ahead of them. It was definitely Johnny, radiating white flames as before, his back was to them and he seemed to simply be watching the horizon even though there was nothing to see but trees, grass and water. It was silence as they approached, with all four of the car's occupants waiting to see how Johnny would react to their presence. But as they flew almost directly beside him it became obvious that he was not going to react at all.

"Johnny," Sue whispered finally. They were so close she leaned slightly out of the car and tried to touch him to get his attention, but her voice was enough. Johnny's head snapped round and eyes that were once a beautiful, joy-filled blue stared into her with an icy cold intensity surrounded by white fire. The hardness of the glare took her back but did not discourage her. "Johnny, can you hear me? Do you know where you are? What are you doing out here?"

Silence.

"Why don't you come back to the Baxter Building with us, please?"

"Yeah Matchstick, come back with us, we'll fix whatever's wrong with your head," Ben added in a surprisingly soft tone for his choice of words.

Sue grimaced and tried to smooth over Ben's attempt, "We'll do some tests, we'll figure out what's wrong. Just, come with us, okay?"

Johnny remained fixed in position, glowing, unmoving and floating atop his cosmic device. There was no recognition or emotion in his eyes even as he finally spoke and said, "Sue."

The whole team flinched as Johnny's voice came out hard and raspy, yet echoing, like grinding gravel was speaking from the bottom of a well.

"Matchstick?" Ben muttered in question, not quite sure that the thing he was looking at was any longer the person he had come to think of as a friend.

There was finally a flicker of emotion in Johnny as one side of his mouth came up in a half-smile, but it was a false emotion, it wasn't real, it was almost as though a switch had been flipped to test a theory of what would happen.

"Speech," the gravelly-Johnny voice said at last with some difficulty. "Yes, there is so much yet to learn … and see."

With these words Johnny turned away from them and faced the north once more then began to glide forward, as if preparing to leave.

"Johnny no! Reed!" Sue yelled, needing something to be done.

"On it!" Reed did the only thing he could think of and turned the car to be directly in Johnny's path.

"Johnny wait! Stop! Tell us what's going on!" Sue demanded now that they had his attention again for a brief moment. Johnny didn't answer, he just continued staring as if studying the four occupants of the car but he didn't try to go past them.

It was not Johnny but Norrin that spoke first, "Susan, I am sorry, that is not your brother."

"What are you talking about? Of course he is!" Sue replied automatically but was refused her denial as Johnny spoke unexpectedly with the echo-like timbre of his voice starting to smooth slightly into a regular speech pattern.

"The one you know as Johnny Storm is no more, but all he is shall live on through us, we shall always remember the Teacher," Johnny said cryptically and then started to leave once more. Reed didn't even have the chance to move the Fantasticar into his path this time, Sue did it herself with a forcefield.

"What do you mean Johnny's gone? You're Johnny!" Sue tried to stay calm but her emotions were spiraling despite her best efforts.

"I'm not sure that he is," Reed said to her softly as he continued to look at their teammate and found no recognizable signs of the person he once was. No joy, no laughter, no real emotion of any kind, and the stillness was the most disturbing thing - Johnny was always moving, flying, talking, always in motion - but this muted, solid structure in front of them lacking impulsiveness and spontaneity was definitely not their Johnny.

Before anyone could ask anymore questions, Norrin answered them all:

"You are the Gorgun."

Johnny's attention was drawn at this and he locked eyes with the Surfer for a moment then nodded stiffly.

"Yes, that is what you called us, therefore that is what we are, or at least what we were. We do not know what we are now, but we shall find out. There is much left for the Teacher to show us."

"What are you talking about?" Sue demanded of the Surfer.

"The Gorgun were not removed from this galaxy as you thought, they were transferred into your brother," Norrin explained. "The Gorgun have infiltrated Johnny Storm's body and overthrown his mind."

"That's impossible," Reed muttered. "The Gorgun are basic instinctual organisms they couldn't have the capacity to adapt and learn sentient thought, their structure is too simple."

"You can't be the Gorgun, Johnny destroyed you!" Ben added bluntly.

"No, Johnny Storm created us. He came to us and offered that which we need to live, we were drawn to him and within this body we are given unlimited energy. He offered himself to us and we accepted this body as a vessel, and from this mind we have learned of sentience, thought, speech, sight, of life itself instead of mere existence. Johnny Storm is our Teacher and our Giver of Life," the Gorgun explained as they continued to radiate a white glow but remained stationary, seemingly content to continue this conversation for the time being.

"All right, well you've had your fun, now get out of my brother and get out of our galaxy!" Sue demanded, her emotions raging as usual. It was beyond disturbing, seeing her brother's body speaking someone else's words, carrying something else's mind. It was causing her powers to be particularly unstable since she had to restrain her urge to strike out because right now she could not attack the Gorgun without hurting Johnny.

The Gorgun showed their first true emotional response at Sue's words as the Board pulled back several inches and what looked like fear seeped onto Johnny's face, "We cannot go back to what we were. To nothingness, to black, to the void. To return would be to lose all that we have learned and there is no need, this vessel's power can sustain us indefinitely, therefore we will remain."

"Of course, if the Gorgun live off heat energy then Johnny's natural fire abilities, combined with the Power Cosmic could make it possible for Johnny's body to be like an incubator for the organisms, providing them with an unlimited food source," Reed said quietly to the team, slipping into lecture mode.

"Reed," Sue said crisply, "We don't need science lessons we need a way to get my brother back to normal."

"Well, the Gorgun seem to have adapted an impressive intelligence, perhaps they can be reasoned with," Reed offered.

"Why do I have a feeling that words ain't gonna do much?" Ben wondered aloud but didn't stop Reed from trying.

"Uh … Gorgun, this body isn't yours, it belongs to Johnny and we think it only right that it be returned to him, as it previously was, with him as the sole occupant," Reed said, and waited to gauge their response.

"Johnny Storm remains in this vessel, therefore there is nothing to be returned," the Gorgun reasoned.

"If Johnny's in there let us talk to him," Sue requested urgently, but the Gorgun shook Johnny's head.

"The Teacher's thoughts are melded with our own, in our creation we became one, separation is not possible."

"I don't believe that," Sue said firmly. "The Power Cosmic is that of awesome power, if it allowed you to join with Johnny then it can divide you again."

"I agree. Gorgun, you say if you leave Johnny you will forget all that you've learned, therefore you wouldn't know what you had lost, so if you agree to leave Johnny now, you won't know that you lost anything," Reed tried to argue.

"Is this an existence you would willingly return to, where there is no thought, no substance, just the void?"

Reed didn't respond but the answer was obvious.

"No creature would willingly accept existence when there is a chance at life. We are leaving. Do not attempt to follow us or you will be destroyed regardless of the agreement we have made with the Teacher."

"Agreement? If you have an agreement with Johnny then the kid is in there somewhere," Ben accused as he desperately wanted to talk to their teammate and not this strange lifeform that had taken him over.

"The agreement was made when the Teacher joined with us. He gave us thought so that we may communicate and with thought came desire. We wished for life and were given this vessel, unchallenged, as long as your star remained untouched. We have upheld our part of this agreement and the Teacher upholds his. There is nothing to discuss and nothing to return."

With those words the Gorgun were finished speaking and turned to fly away, however they were still very close to the Fantasticar giving Ben the chance to reach for Johnny's arm.

"Hey, we're not done here!" Ben yelled in frustration. As soon as he touched Johnny's arm the white glow intensified and with a hiss of what was perhaps the Gorgun's first ever sensation of anger a shockwave tore through the sky knocking Ben back into his seat as it hit the Fantasticar.

"Whoa," Ben said as he fell and the controls in front of him powered down.

"Reed?" Sue questioned as the car was thrown back and began to descend.

"No power," Reed confirmed in a rush. "We have no power, we're completely shut down."

They were several thousand feet above the ground and falling fast with nothing to stop them.

Watching silently for only a moment, Johnny Storm's body turned and flew away.

"Nothing's responding, it's all dead," Reed reported. "Uh, Sue?"

"I'm trying!" she yelled as she closed her eyes trying to focus on her forcefields. The ground was flying closer.

Nothing happened.

"Sue, concentrate!" Reed implored.

"I'm trying," Sue repeated but knew that she was really thinking about her brother flying away from them with a cosmically enhanced being controlling his body. Her emotions were such a wreck from the entire situation that she had almost no control of her powers at all.

"Relax," a soothing voice said to her left and she suddenly felt her mind become entirely focussed on creating and maintaining her force field. An invisible bubble formed around the Fantasticar and their descent came to an abrupt halt with fifty feet to spare.

"Cuttin' it kinda close don't ya think?" Ben pointed out with a sigh from the back.

Sue continued concentrating until she had lowered them safely to the ground, "Yeah, sorry about that. Thank you Norrin, I couldn't have done that without you."

Norrin nodded his head but said nothing. Behind them, Ben climbed out of his seat and sent a tremor through the ground as he landed. Walking along the now powerless vehicle he voiced the confusion of the entire group.

"So, what was that?"

Reed never looked up from the controls as he responded, "Johnny, or rather the Gorgun, hit us with something like an EM pulse, it shorted all the Fantasticar's circuits. It seems like it should only last a few minutes but you can see the powerful result."

"You never thought to shield our systems against something like that?" Ben asked incredulously, unable to believe that Reed could miss something so obvious in his design structure. But of course, Reed hadn't.

"Actually the car has significant defenses against things like this happening, but then you have to take the Power Cosmic into account, in which case you really can't account for anything anymore."

"He could have killed us." The disturbing thought was voiced quietly by Sue who seemed to be in a state of shock from the entire incident, but was still the first to say aloud what they had all been thinking.

"Probably," Reed confirmed, but then added optimistically, "but _they_ didn't. It might mean Johnny still has some sway over their actions, there certainly would have been much more effective ways to take us out of the picture for good with the sort of power they have. This definitely seemed more like a disabling tactic to get us out of the way."

"They did say Johnny made them promise not to hurt the Earth," Ben supplied.

"Actually, I think they promised not to eat the sun, which they haven't done. It may only be out of courtesy for the "teacher" that they didn't kill us," Reed surmised.

"Anyone else notice he wasn't as bright and shiny as before?" Ben asked.

"The Power Cosmic has been greatly diminished from Johnny Storm's actions in space, reducing his physical appearance as well. The Gorgun simply may not have had the strength to do us further damage," Norrin informed them, explaining the Gorgun's lack of glow and destructive power.

Reed perked up at hearing this and having the control board in front of him light up at the same time, "That could be good, if the Power Cosmic is running low then we may just have a chance of beating these things and getting Johnny back to normal. Our systems are up again, let's get back to the lab and grab the Tachyon Pulse emitters. Separating the Gorgun from the Board is our best chance at capturing Johnny unharmed, then we'll figure out some way to get those things out of him."

Ben quickly moved to get back in the car, eager to get Johnny back to normal and glad to have a semblance of a plan, when Norrin was forced to bring the mood of the team down once more when he told them:

"I am afraid your technology will no longer affect the Beacon."

"What? Why? They worked on you before?" Ben pointed out needlessly.

Norrin replied firmly, "When a weapon is developed against you, is not your first step upon survival to create a defense against such a weapon?"

Reed sighed, "Yes, it would be."

"It is the same with the Beacon. It is now shielded from the weapon you created, as effective as it initially was, it will no longer be of use to you in this endeavor," Norrin regretfully informed them.

"If the Board's learned to defend itself then I'm at a loss. We can track the Gorgun as long as they stay on the planet, but if we can't separate them from the Board I don't see how we'll get them to even talk to us let alone remove them from Johnny."

"Then what are we gonna do?" Sue demanded, breaking her silence. "We can't just let those things stay in my brother!"

"And we gotta move fast before they get any more of their Cosmic strength back and we lose all chance of getting the kid back," Ben added. Not surprisingly, it was Norrin's words that again changed the mood and outlook of the teammates.

"I may be able to stop them," he announced suddenly, "but it will be difficult and I will need your help."

"Help you can have, what we need is a plan," Reed told him despondently. It had taken him days of work in the lab last time to figure out a way to battle the Power Cosmic and he knew he wouldn't be able to do it again. Thankfully, Norrin had that covered.

"I can take the Power Cosmic back from the Gorgun and by all accounts render them helpless. I do not know if it will force them to leave Johnny Storm's body but it will greatly weaken their hold on him at the very least."

"What?" Ben shouted, doing his best not to strangle their alien visitor. "And you just thought to mention this now? You never bothered to tell us that you can turn Johnny back to normal whenever you want?"

"As I said, I can take the Power Cosmic back but it will not necessarily force the Gorgun out of your teammate. The small fraction of Power Cosmic that was left inside me was meant as a marker for the power to recognize me as their true master. I can force a transfer of the power back into myself but physical contact must be made and maintained – this is where I will need your help."

"That sounds great Norrin, but Ben made a good point. Why didn't you mention this before or try it earlier when he was here with us?" Sue asked softly, trying not to sound accusatory but needing to know the answer.

"I was reluctant to mention it. If this is done there is the chance Johnny Storm may be gravely injured in the process," Norrin said solemnly as he met Sue's gaze.

"But you were able to transfer the power before fairly easily, or so it seemed. You were both all right after a few minutes," Reed pointed out.

"There is a considerable difference between transferring the power willingly and tearing it out of one that does not wish to relinquish it. Great damage can be inflicted," the Surfer warned. The team considered this in silence for a few moments until Reed finally spoke.

"It sounds like it's our only option." He noticed that Sue hadn't said anything for some time and was clearly deep in thought. As much as Reed believed that he was the leader of this team he also knew that in this situation the choice of action was completely up to Sue. "Sue, what do you think?"

Her expression was set firmly as she looked up at him and nodded, "Like you said, it's our only option. We chance hurting him or we leave him like that, and we're not leaving him like that. I'm not letting some space mist take over my brother. We all know how much Johnny hates being cooped up and I know he'd want us to try anything we had to in order to free him. Norrin, do whatever is necessary."

Now that that was settled, Reed knew it was time to rally their efforts.

"All right, we have an idea, now we need a strategy. If the Gorgun can read Johnny's mind then they probably know you're able to do this Norrin, they won't let you near them easily."

Ben's ears perked up at this and he smiled mischievously, "So, you saying you need a distraction?"

Now that was something Ben could do.

* * *

Miles away the body of Johnny Storm flew to a stop once more high above a quiet stretch of forest. When the Gorgun were given sentience they essentially copied all the information and knowledge in Johnny's mind and it became their own, but even though they had this knowledge they had not yet analyzed it, nor were they anywhere near understanding it fully. Even as the Gorgun floated above the simple treetops they were in awe, because even though they already knew what trees and grass and animals were they had never before experienced the sensations of sight, smell and sound. Johnny's mind warned that there were greater, more complicated things in the universe such as cities and people that needed to be explored as well but for now the Gorgun chose these quiet, uninhabited areas to stay as they assimilated to sentience. The Gorgun observed and catalogued the sounds of birds, running water and wind and there was of course the ever present scream that had been with them since their rebirth.

When the Gorgun has first overtaken Johnny Storm's body there had been a battle for control and though Johnny was strong, the Gorgun were many and eventually gained complete control over the physical vessel they now inhabited. But Johnny's mind was not destroyed, it was intact and aware, and from it they learned and questioned, answers came unwillingly, but also there was the constant pounding, screaming, demanding for freedom. It was almost deafening as it came from within the Gorgun's own fresh mind in many ways and though they did not intend to obey it, they also could not silence it as Johnny Storm was an expert at always making sure he was heard. In an attempt to drown the sound of defiance the Gorgun took Johnny's body closer to the ground where there were more sounds and sights to enjoy and observe.

The Gorgun drifted through the forest slowly, taking in every nuance. They were not tired but could feel that the body they occupied was drained and capable of much greater strength than it currently possessed, but it did not matter, that strength would come back eventually and for now they had more than enough heat and energy to keep them fed.

A new sound from behind drew the attention of the Gorgun and as they turned they only just avoided the massive boulder that had been thrown towards their head. Immediately on alert the Gorgun pulled away and scoured the ground below – it was not hard to spot the cause.

"Hey SparkleBoy, we told ya, we want our friend back to normal and we ain't giving up until you get out!"

This last word was punctuated by Ben throwing another torso sized rock at the Gorgun which they easily avoided, but Ben's mission was accomplished as the space creatures came closer to the ground to confront their enemy. Ben was standing alone near a rockface but showed no signs of backing down.

"Your actions only serve to damage the body you wish returned, but it does not matter, you have been warned not to follow us. We will be left in peace!" It appeared the Gorgun had mastered the emotion of anger before all others as the glow around Johnny's body intensified and great gusts of wind whipped through the forest. With a sweep of their arm the Gorgun lifted a tree out of the ground and hurled it through the air towards the Thing.

Ben couldn't duck in time and was smashed against the rockface behind him but almost immediately shook off the blow and tossed the tree aside with a kick.

"That all you got? I guess since you're so new to thinking and all you haven't quite learned how to be creative yet," Ben taunted as he motioned for the Gorgun to take another shot.

Angered, the Gorgun came even closer and Ben could see energy come up through the board, into Johnny's body and then straight for Ben's head. The Thing had no idea what the energy would do to him – it had turned Victor back to normal more or less, but this could be entirely different – but could only bring up an arm to try to block the blow. However, the energy never struck Ben, instead it was stopped a foot from his face by an invisible barrier.

"It's good to know my force fields can stop something the Power Cosmic generates," Sue said with a touch of relief as she made herself visible beside Ben. She had been getting frustrated with not being able to defend herself against any Cosmically Powered force and was pleased she had finally deflected one assault at least.

"Your attempts are futile, this body is ours and will not be relinquished for any reason, least of all this poor attempt to harm us," said the Gorgun.

"Well get used to it pal, cause we ain't stopping until the kid's back to normal so why don't you just get out now!" Ben promised loudly. Beside him Sue created a forcefield under her feet to lift herself closer to her brother's body in an attempt to look in his eyes.

"Johnny please, I know you're in there – fight this thing! You can do it Johnny! You're the most stubborn person I know and you'd never stand for being locked away, now fight these things, come back to us!" Sue pleaded.

The new mind of the Gorgun pounded with screams of freedom from their captive, louder than ever before.

"Johnny fight them! You saved the world, now save yourself! Come on little brother!"

Johnny's will was strong and he wished to be free as well as keep these creatures from harming his family, so he banged and shouted and kicked relentlessly against the barrier the Gorgun used to repress his mind until the pounding noise, along with Sue's pleas, were more than the young mind of the aliens could handle.

"Silence!" the Gorgun demanded, their flames igniting brighter and higher as they released a torrent of crackling energy in Sue and Ben's direction. Fortunately, Sue had been ready for anything and raised her shield in time to protect them both but couldn't continue levitating herself and fell to the ground. Ben caught her as gently as possible as she somehow kept up her defenses as she fell. The energy exploded against the invisible barrier and the forcefield only barely held as the last of the Gorgun's anger was poured into it and Johnny's body was left gasping, exhausted from anger and exertion. It was the perfect time to strike.

"Reed now!" Sue yelled.

Johnny's repressed mind continued to yell for freedom, distracting the Gorgun just enough to slow their reactions and keep them from wondering until this moment:

"Where are the others?"

The question was answered by the wind shifting unnaturally behind the Gorgun. There was nothing to see but far too late the newly born sentience realized there was someone behind him. From the invisible Fantasticar Norrin Radd leapt from his seat, out into open air and directly towards the Gorgun – he only needed a moment of contact.

"No!" the Gorgun yelled in denial but could do no more, the Power Cosmic was essentially drained after its last energy assault, and they were barely staying in the air. The Gorgun had no hope of stopping a sudden, invisible assault from behind.

The Beacon shifted with the weight of another being, a being more accustomed to its power and rightfully its master. The Beacon welcomed its former captain, though the Gorgun did not, but it did not matter, contact was made.

"Transfer!" Norrin shouted as his hand connected with Johnny Storm's chest.

Contact.

A vacuum of sound.

Blinding light.

Electric air.

Screams.

TBC

Is this the end of the Gorgun? Of Johnny? Of the story?

No.

I have gotten some absolutely fantastic reviews for this story to which I send out my heartfelt thanks, and my super apologies for taking so long to update, but life has only recently gotten less crazy. I usually do individual thank yous, but I don't think anyone probably remembers what they wrote to me, so I'll just say thanks and offer this super long chapter as a redemption kind of thing. Hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for reading, Robin.


	7. Choose Life

So, I've had people emailing me to finish this story for a long time and I apologize that I've left it for so long. You've all been great and patient. With the recent heart-breaking news that Johnny Storm has been killed in the comic books I decided to break this out and dust it off as part of my grieving process. I'm sorry that it took Johnny's death for me to get this done, but it was really a great motivator. There will be one more chapter after this, a short epilogue, but this is the main ending. Hope you all enjoy it. Again, sorry.

**Cosmic Storm**  
By Robinyj

* * *

Reed, Sue and Ben all shielded their eyes from the light that emitted from the massive energy transfer being forced between Johnny and Norrin. Down on the ground, Sue also covered her ears as the sound of Johnny's screaming assaulted the air for as long as the energy violently crackled and surged around the two.

When the sound stopped and the electric charge left the atmosphere around them, the team finally opened their eyes to see the transfer was complete. Exhausted, Norrin slowly fell to his knees on top of the Board, his skin now glowing slightly. Johnny was in much worse shape. As soon as the last scream left his throat and he was released from Norrin's grasp, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell back unconscious. The Board knew he was no longer its master and made no move to catch him so he plummeted towards the ground below.

"Johnny no!" Sue yelled, trying to summon the strength for another force field to catch him, but it was unnecessary. From the driver's seat of the Fantasticar Reed stretched himself down towards the ground and caught Johnny before he was even half-way to the ground.

"I got him!" Reed called out to assure Sue and Ben, then lowered himself more and placed Johnny gently on the ground. Sue and Ben rushed over to check on him while Reed and Norrin both came down slowly from the sky.

"Johnny? Johnny can you hear me?" Sue asked from her brother's side as she shook his shoulder lightly and placed a hand on his chest, then sighed in relief. "He's breathing."

"Matchstick? Come on, talk to …"

Before Ben could finish, Johnny's eyes flew open and his back arched off the ground as he gasped desperately as though choking in the open air and his hands clutched at the ground reaching for an escape from the pain surging through him that was clearly etched on his face. Sue jumped back and cringed. Norrin had warned them this would happen but seeing Johnny in such obvious agony still made her sick to her stomach.

"Johnny! Johnny calm down, it's okay, you're okay," Sue assured him, trying to hold him down and keep him from hurting himself.

"No," Johnny ground out between clenched teeth and wide eyes. "Ah! Sue … they're … still here. Pain … they never … felt it before. Scared them. They'll be … back. Ah god!"

Having the Power Cosmic ripped from his body had set off every nerve ending in Johnny's body, and at the same time that he felt like his body was tearing itself apart, he was also forced to fight for control of his own mind as the Gorgun were quickly recovering.

"We'll figure this out Johnny," Reed promised. "Just hold on."

"You hear that, stay with us Johnny!" Sue ordered, forcing her brother to look her in the eye. Despite the pain she saw reflected there she felt herself smiling to see the spark of her brother had returned in those eyes. "We're not gonna lose you again. You just have to fight these things, okay?"

"Can't. Sue … I can't," he answered tightly, still gasping but not as viciously. "Pain's fading … they're coming back. Don't let me … stay like this … trapped inside. Sue … Sue I'm sorry."

"No, don't, there's nothing …"

Johnny suddenly gripped her wrist tightly, cutting her off as he met her gaze. She saw fear in his eyes.

"Don't let me hurt you."

Sue shook her head, "It's not you Johnny."

And that statement was suddenly true. Johnny's head fell back and when he opened his eyes again all traces of their teammate had disappeared. Cold eyes stared back at them and offered no warning as Johnny's body ignited in flames where he lay. The Power Cosmic was gone but Johnny's own abilities were still frighteningly strong and they all backed away as the heat from his body threatened to scald them.

"No!" Sue yelled in frustration as she lost her brother again as quickly as she had gotten him back.

Then they all watched silently as the Gorgun slowly stood, gasping in pain and exhaustion that it had never experienced before.

"What have you done?" the creature demanded, confused and staring at Johnny's hands which were now orange fire instead of the white glow of the Power Cosmic.

"We took back what you stole," the Surfer replied, gliding down from the sky to stand with the team.

"Yeah, and there's one more thing we got left to collect," Ben added. "Now get the hell out of our friend before we rip you out of there!"

"No!" the Gorgun replied, backing away. "Even in this weakened state this body is capable of sustaining us. We cannot return to mere existence, to a void. We choose life."

Before the others could respond Norrin glided forward smoothly and grasped the Gorgun by Johnny's throat.

"Then you have also chosen death."

And without another word Norrin shot into the air, dragging the struggling Gorgun with him.

"Norrin, wait!" Sue pleaded but the Surfer was already high above them.

"Anyone know if this is part of the plan?" Ben asked, but the others just shrugged.

"Come on, maybe we can catch them," Reed offered, jumping back into the Fantasticar as Norrin and Johnny disappeared from sight.

A mile above the Earth and climbing fast, Norrin easily forced the Gorgun with him higher and higher into the atmosphere.

"Release us," the Gorgun demanded, fighting for freedom. "We will not relinquish this life. Your threats are useless."

"You ask for life, but you must also learn of death," Norrin explained. "The body you occupy cannot survive where I am taking you. Soon its functions will shut down, its organs will not operate and its energy will dissipate and never return. If you stay your fate will be the same. Rather than drift through the void, you will not exist at all. The choice is yours."

"No," the Gorgun pleaded, flames dimming as they gasped for breath in the thinning air.

"The body you are in is weakening already. Soon you will be nothing. And that nothing is eternal. You can die with this body or you can choose existence as before, travelling the void and space forever. In your original state you will exist forever," Norrin promised even as they climbed higher.

The Gorgun shook its head, flames extinguishing as they went higher, "That is not life."

"Yet that is your choice. This body belongs to another who does not wish to share it. Leave it or die with it."

Sue Storm never thought she would appreciate that her uniform was meant for outer space ever again, but as the Fantasticar followed Norrin high into the atmosphere she was grateful for the ultra warm material as the thin air was freezing this high up.

"Reed, can you see them?" she asked from the middle section, leaning forward to read his instruments.

"I'm following their radiation signature but we're not going to be able to go much higher safely," he answered.

"Hey look!" Ben pointed. Just barely visible high above them was the fading orange light of Johnny's flames.

"What's he doing?" Sue asked. "He'll kill him."

"Or them," Reed added. They couldn't go any higher without losing consciousness so Reed used the Fantasticar's cameras to zoom in and display what was happening on their monitors. They all watched as Norrin flew higher and Johnny's body weakened, his flames extinguishing as they rose. Then suddenly Johnny's body jerked and spasmed, stopping Norrin's ascent.

"Something's happening," Reed pointed out but they were all riveted to the screens in front of them.

With what looked like a terrible scream Johnny's body arched, his flames died and a black mist seemed to form around his body. The mist swirled, lost, for only a moment, and then there was an intense flash of light that whited out their screens and filled the sky above their heads, leaving them all blinking away dots from their vision.

"What happened?" Sue asked, covering her eyes and waiting for the dizziness from the lights to pass.

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask Norrin," Reed suggested softly, motioning in front of them. They all looked to see the Surfer flying back towards them with Johnny's limp body in his arms.

"No, no," Sue whispered as she watched him approach.

The glow of Norrin's skin was almost non-existent and his board swayed dangerously as he flew – a symbol of how exhausted he truly was. He met Sue's eyes as he lowered Johnny's body into the empty seat of the Fantasticar.

"The Gorgun are gone," Norrin reported, then looked down at Johnny as Sue placed a hand on his neck. "He is alive."

"Thank God," Sue sighed, hugging her brother's still form and shivering when she realized he was cold. Johnny hadn't been cold in over a year. "He's freezing. Reed, we have to get him home."

Reed nodded and turned them around. Norrin hovered, not moving, until Ben called back to him, "You coming Shiny Pants?"

Norrin nodded, appreciating the invitation, "I will follow."

It took twenty minutes to get back to the Baxter Building and in that time Johnny never stirred once. His head never lolled, his body never shifted and even his breathing was shallow and weak. It worried Sue that he was so still but she held him tight and remained grateful he was alive. They could deal with anything else that happened as long as he was alive and himself.

When they arrived at the Baxter Building the streets below were still crowded with people as far as the eye could see, with signs and posters thanking the Fantastic Four for saving the world again. The team paid them no mind however; it seemed like days ago now that they were fighting for the sun's survival and not their teammate's. Rushing down to the lab, Reed and Sue hooked Johnny up to every piece of diagnostic equipment they had, but the readouts were not encouraging.

Sue sighed as she looked at the readings, "It's like déjà vu."

"What's going on?" Ben asked, looking over her shoulder even though the information meant almost nothing to him.

"Johnny's body chemistry is incredibly unbalanced, similar to what we detected before but not nearly as extreme," Reed answered as he typed and read over the data. "His white blood count is incredibly low as is his glucose and lipoprotein, but his bicarbates are now extremely high."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Ben asked and was not encouraged when Reed hesitated before answering.

"Reed?" Sue pushed.

"If he is himself again, then barring any complications we should be able to stabilize and balance out his body chemistry, but it's going to take a lot of treatments and a lot of close observation. His protein and production levels in general are so low that we can't risk putting any strain on his body while we treat him," Reed warned them. "His body is giving off the results of someone who ran eight marathons dehydrated and without sleeping for a week. Every function has been pushed beyond capacity. I can't stress enough the need for rest."

"Okay, we'll let him rest. Where do we start?' Sue demanded, straightening and preparing herself for the long hours she was going to be spending with her brother. While Reed and Sue took care of Johnny downstairs, Ben got out of their way and went to the roof. He had a lot he could do – the whole world was looking for answers that only the team had, but for now he needed a few minutes of silence. It had been a long day for everyone. When he got to the roof he found Norrin Radd floating a few feet above the cement, looking down at the crowd below.

"Hey," Ben nodded to him and walked over to the railing to look for himself.

"Your team is much loved by this world," Norrin noted.

Looking down at the crowd Ben saw there was a mix of people in the streets, young and old, some with signs, most wearing blue in tribute to the team, but the most abundant and rabid people were the Johnny fans, screaming his name and begging him to come outside.

"Yeah, we do all right. It's mostly the kid though, really. People eat him up," Ben admitted, then shook his head. "This isn't going to help."

"Perhaps he has earned it," Norrin suggested.

Ben nodded, "Yeah, maybe he has."

To Be Concluded

Hope the wait was worth it. Sorry it's so short, just really wanted to get something posted for anyone else who is feeling the pain of Johnny's absence. Hopefully it won't take too long for Marvel to bring him back to life. *sigh*


End file.
